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ACCIDENT  PREVENTION 
AND  RELIEF 


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ACCIDENT  PREVENTION 
AND  RELIEF  - 

AN     INVESTIGATION     OF     THE    SUBJECT    IN 

EUROPE  WITH   SPECIAL  ATTENTION 

TO  ENGLAND  AND  GERMANY 

TOGETHER  WITH 

RECOMMENDATIONS     FOR    ACTION 

IN  THE 

UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


BY 

FERD.  C.  SCHWEDTMAN  and  JAMES  A.  EMERY 

FOR  THE 
NATIONAL  ASSOCIATION  OF  MANUFACTURERS 


PUBUSHED  FOR  THE 

NATIONAL  ASSOCIATION  OF  MANUFACTURERS 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 

GENERAL  OFFICES.  30  CHURCH  STREET.  NEW  YORK 


Copyright.  1911, 

by 

NATIONAL  ASSOCIATION  OF  MANUFACTURERS 

OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


»       c 

•       •r 

at*       • 


NATIONAL  ASSOCIATION  OF  MANUFACTURERS 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 

General  Offices:  30  Church  Street,  New  York 
OFFICERS    AND    DIRECTORS 

John    Kirby^    Jr.    (President),    Dayton    Manufacturing 

Company,  Dayton,  Ohio. 
F.  H.  Stillman  (Treasurer),  Watson-Stillman  Company, 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

J.    G.    Battelle^    Columbus    Iron    and    Steel    Company, 

Columbus,  Ohio. 
C.    S.    Brantingham^    Emerson-Brantingham    Company, 

Rockford,  111. 
H.   S.   Chamberlain,  Citico  Furnace  Co.,  Chattanooga, 

Tenn. 
George  T.  Coppins,  Walworth  Manufacturing  Company, 

Boston,  Mass. 
Henry   S.   Hale,   Hale   &   Kilburn   Manufacturing   Co., 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 
C.  C.  Hanch,  Nordyke  &  Marmon  Co.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Charles   M.   Jarvis,   American   Hardware   Corporation, 

New  Britain,  Conn. 
Henry  B.  Joy,  Packard  Motor  Car  Co.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

vii 

235517 


NATIONAL  ASSOCIATION  OF  MANUFACTURERS 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 

General  Offices:  30  Church  Street,  New  York 
OFFICERS  AND  DIRECTORS-Continued 

H.  E.  Miles,,  Racine- Sattley  Company,  Racine,  Wis. 
LuDWiG  NissEN,  Ludwig  Nissen  &  Co.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
William  H.  Parlin^  Parlin  &  Orendorff  Co.,  Canton,  111. 
David  M.  Parry^  Parry  Auto  Co.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Enos  Paullin^  Ferracute  Machine  Co.,  Bridgeton,  N.  J. 

C.  W.  Post,  Postum  Cereal  Co.,  Battle  Creek,  Mich. 
Ferd.  C.  Schwedtman,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

George  D.  Selby,  Selby  Shoe  Company,  Portsmouth,  Ohio. 

Giles  H.  Stilwell,  H.  H.  Franklin  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

D.  A.  Tompkins,  D.  A.  Tompkins  Co.,  Charlotte,  N.  C. 


J.  P.  Bird,  General  Manager,  General  Offices,  New  York, 
N.  Y. 

George   S.    Boudinot,   Secretary,   General   Offices,   New 
York,  N.  Y. 

James  A.  Emery,  General  Counsel,  Washington,  D.  C. 

A.  Parker  Nevin,  General  Counsel,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

viii 


COMMITTEE    ON    INDUSTRIAL   INDEMNITY 
INSURANCE 

John  Kirby^  Jr.^  (ex-offlcio),  President  A'^ational  Asso- 
ciation of  Manufacturers,  Dayton,  Ohio. 

Ferd.  C.  Schwedtman  (Chairman),  President  Citizens' 
Industrial  Association,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

D.  A.  Tompkins,  President  D.  A.  Tompkins  Co.,  Charlotte, 
N.  C. 

H.  E.  Miles,  President  Racine-Sattley  Co.,  Racine,  Wis. 

Henry  B.  Joy,  President  Packard  Motor  Car  Co.,  Detroit, 
Mich. 

Howell  Cheney^  Cheney  Brothers,  South  Manchester, 
Conn. 

G.  A.  Ranney,  International  Harvester  Co.,  Chicago. 

James  A.  Emery,  AYashington,  D.  C,  Counsel. 

A.  Parker  Nevin^,  New  York  City,  CounseL 


is 


ADVISORY    BOARD     OF     COMMITTEE     ON 
INDUSTRIAL   INDEMNITY   INSURANCE 

M.  W.  Alexander,  General  Electric  Co.,  West  Lynn, 
Mass.;  also  Member  Massachusetts  State  Commis- 
sion on  Compensation  for  Industrial  Accidents. 

B.  T.  Babbitt-Hyde,  President  B.  T.  Babbitt  Co.,  New 

York  City.  • 

Geo.    E.    Bardeen,   President   Michigan   Manufacturers' 

Association,  Otsego,  Mich. 
J.  G.  Battelle,  President  Columbus  Iron  and  Steel  Co., 

Columbus,  Ohio. 

C.  S.  Brantingham,  Secretary  and  Treasurer  Emerson- 

Brantingham  Company,  Rockford,  111. 
0.  P.  Briggs,  President  National  Founders'  Association, 
Minneapolis,  Minn. 

S.  P.  Bush,  President  and  General  Manager  The  Buck- 
eye Steel  Castings  Co.,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

H.  S.  Chamberlain^  President  Roane  Iron  Co.  and  Presi- 
dent Citico  Furnace  Co.,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

Frank  L.  Dyer,  General  Manager  Edison  Phonograph 
Works,  Orange,  N.  J. 

Frederick  A.  Geier,  Cincinnati,  O.,  President  National 
Machine  Tool  Builders'  Association,  Springfield,  O.; 
also  President  Cincinnati  Milling  Machine  Co. 

G.  M.  Gillette^  Member  Minnesota  Employers'  Liability 
Commission,  St.  Paul,  !Minn. 

J.  M.  Glenn,  Director  Russell  Sage  Foundation,  New  York 
City. 

G.  H.  Jantz,  President  American  Hardware  Manufac- 
turers' Association,  New  York,  N.  Y.;  also  President 
The  American  Wringer  Co.,  New  York  City. 


ADVISORY     BOARD     OF     COMMITTEE    ON 
INDUSTRIAL   INDEMNITY  INSURANCE-Contmued 

Charles  M.  Jarvis,  President  The  American  Hardware 

Corporation,  Xew  Britain,  Conn. 
M.  W.  Mix,  President  Dodge  Mfg.  Co.,  Mishawaka,  Ind. 

Laverne  W.  Noyes,  President  Illinois  Manufacturers'  As- 
sociation, Chicago,  111. 

Lewis  W.  Parker,  President  American  Cotton  Manufac- 
turers' Association,  Greenville,  S.  C. 

David  M.  Parry,  Ex- President  National  Association  of 
Manufacturers. 

Col.  Geo.  Pope,  Treasurer  Pope  Mfg.  Co.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

C.  W.  Post,  Chairman  Postum  Cereal  Co.,  Battle  Creek, 
Mich. 

I.  D.  Russell,  Vice-President  Russell  &  Erwin  Mfg.  Co., 
New  Britain,  Conn. 

J.  H.  Schwacke,  Manager  and  Secretary  Wm.  Sellers  Co., 
Inc.,  Philadelphia,  and  President  National  Metal 
Trades  Association,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

George  D.  Selby,  President  and  General  Manager  The 
Selby  Shoe  Co.,  Portsmouth,  Ohio. 

E.  C.  Shaw,  General  Manager  The  B.  F.  Goodrich  Co., 
Akron,  Ohio. 

C.  A.  Smith,  President  C.  A.  Smith  Lumber  Company, 
Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Henry  R.  Towne,  President  Yale  &  Towne  Manufacturing 
Co.,  New  York  City,  and  President  Merchants  Asso- 
ciation of  New  York  City. 

Andrew  T.  Wilson,  President  Manufacturers'  Association 
of  New  York,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


Tore  word 

Employers'    liability    laws    have    perhaps    been    the  Employers' 
most  fruitful  source  of  worry,  dissatisfaction  and  fric-  Laws 
tion  to  the  employers  and  wage-workers  of  the  United 
States.    It  is  freely  admitted  that  looking  at  the  subject 
from  the  humane,   economic  and  legal  viewpoint  our 
present  system  can  be  changed,  and  ought  to  be  changed. 

Members  of  the  National  Association  of  Manufac- 
turers have,  during  many  years,  manifested  practical  in- 
terest in  the  prevention  and  relief  of  industrial  accidents. 
Some  have  established  in  their  own  plants  private  sys- 
tems of  relief  and  prevention  which  have  attracted 
national  attention. 

Impressed  with  the  continually  increasing  importance 
of  this  subject,  its  appeal  to  justice  and  humanity,  and  its 
relation  to  widely  proposed  changes  in  the  nature  of  em- 
ployers' liability,  a  special  committee  was  appointed  to 
investigate  the  whole  question  from  the  viewpoint  of 
the  progressive  employer. 

After  a  thorough  inquiry  among  the  employers  of  the 
United  States,  resulting  in  the  receipt  of  10,000  replies 
to  the  Committee's  interrogation  sheet,  a  report  was 
placed  before  the  annual  meeting  and  resolutions  were 
adopted,  of  which  the  following  is  a  part.  ^^^^ 


XIV 


FOREWORD 


Resolutions 
National 
Association  of 
ManufacituTers 


European 
Investigation 


^*  Whereas,  the  National  Association  of  Manufacturers 
occupies  a  leading  position  in  all  constructive  work  for 
industrial  betterment  and  particularly  for  harmonious 
relations  between  American  employers  and  wage-workers, 
and 

**  Whereas,  the  United  States  is  less  S-dvanced  than 
progressive  European  nations  in  respect  to  employers' 
liability  and  industrial  accident  indemnity  to  the  detri- 
ment of  the  nation,  its  institutions  and  its  people; 

*  ^  Be  It  Resolved,  that  the  present  system  of  determin- 
ing employers'  liability  is  unsatisfactory,  wasteful,  slow 
in  operation  and  antagonistic  to  harmonious  relations  be- 
tween employers  and  wage-workers;  that  an  equitable, 
mutually  contributory  indemnity  system,  automatically 
providing  relief  for  victims  of  industrial  accidents 
and  their  dependents,  is  required  to  reduce  waste,  liti- 
gation and  friction,  and -to  meet  the  demands  of  an  en- 
lightened nation ; 

'*Be  It  Further  Resolved,  that  prevention  of  accidents 
is  of  even  greater  importance  than  equitable  compensa- 
tion to  injured  workers. ' ' 

To  continue  the  investigations  undertaken,  the  Asso- 
ciation authorized  Mr.  Ferdinand  C.  Schwedtman,  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee,  and  Mr.  James  A.  Emery,  Special 
Counsel,  to  visit  Europe  for  the  purpose  of  personally 
observing  the  operation  of  the  prevailing  systems  for  the 
compensation  and  prevention  of  accidents.  Combining, 
as  these  two  men  do,  a  thorough  legal,  engineering  and 
business  training,  together  with  many  years'  experience 
in  organization  work,  they  seemed  especially  well  quali- 
fied for  this  difficult  role.    The  information  thus  gained 


FOREWORD  XV 

is  most  gratifying  to  the  officers  of  the  National  Asso-. 
ciation  of  Manufacturers,  and  to  the  men  who  are  acting 
as  members  of  the  Advisory  Board. 

This  volume  presents  the  results  of  a  four  months' 
investigation.  It  is  not  a  broad  treatise  on  social  insur- 
ance. It  contains  practically  no  data  on  sickness,  in- 
validity or  old  age  pensions,  but  deals  only  with  accident 
prevention  and  accident  relief  for  injured  workers  and 
their  dependents.  Nor  does  this  volume  cover  complete- 
ly the  details  of  the  systems  of  the  various  European 
countries.  It  was  found  that  the  systems  of  England 
and  Germany  contain  practically  all  the  principles  and 
the  experience  which  is  required  for  the  building  up  of  a 
sound   system   in   the   United   States.    Therefore,   this  progressive 

Humane 

volume  describes,  with  much  care,  the  methods  of  these  viewpoint 
two  countries,  and  it  throws  such  light  upon  various  other 
national  systems  as  seems  necessary  to  convey  a  rea- 
sonably complete  understanding  of  the  whole  subject. 

A  number  of  excellent  books  have  been  written  of 
late  on  the  subject  of  this  investigation,  treating  it  in 
its  economic,  legislative  and  sociological  aspects.  This 
volume  is  such  a  combination  of  these  viewpoints  as 
seems  necessary  to  cover,  in  condensed  form,  the  prac- 
tical needs  of  the  progressive,  humane,  American  em- 
ployer. 

National  Association  of  MANUFACTrRERS 
OF  THE  United  States  of  America. 

J.  KiRBY,  Jr.,  President. 
New  York,  January  1911. 


INTRODUCTION 

Some  years  ago  a  man  of  much  learning,  who  has  de-  present 
voted  practically  his  whole  life  to  a  study  of  social  in-  in  [he 
surance,  and  who  is  probably  the  greatest  international 
authority  on  the  subject,  was  prevailed  upon  by  his 
friends  to  give  to  the  world  the  fruits  of  his  life's  work 
in  book  form.  The  result  was,  as  might  be  expected,  the 
best  work  that  has  ever  been  written  on  the  subject. 
Five  volumes,  each  containing  about  a  thousand  pages, 
were  given  to  the  world  in  1904,  and  an  initial  edition 
of  a  thousand  copies  was  printed.  The  work  brought  to 
the  author  additional  fame  and  international  decorations, 
but  after  seven  years  one-half  of  the  original  edition  is 
still  unsold.  A  few  years  later  this  same  author  published 
a  pamphlet  of  about  50  pages,  this  being  a  short  treatise 
covering  the  rudiments  and  general  principles  of  German 
social  insurance.  Approximately  a  million  copies  were  sold. 

It  is  quite  impossible  for  us  to  say  all  that  must  be 
said  to  the  employers  of  the  United  States  in  a  pam- 
phlet of  50  pages,  but  we  have  made  an  earnest  attempt 
to  condense  the  information  gathered  into  the  smallest 
possible  space.  Much  of  the  most  important  material  is 
shown  in  charts  and  diagrams  which  can  be  absorbed  by 
the  busy  man  at  a  glance.     The  book  is  written  for  the 

xvii 


XVlll 


INTRODUCTION 


A  Book 
For  the 
Busy  Man 


Compilation 
of    Data 
Carefully- 
Made 


busy  man.  Nevertheless,  the  student  and  the  sociological 
investigator  can  find  much  entirely  new  information  in 
it.  For  more  detailed  statements,  minute  descriptions 
and  historical  information,  we  refer  the  reader  to  several 
of  the  excellent  works  which  have  been  written  on  the 
subject  from  time  to  time.  Among  these  Ve  recommend 
especially  "Industrial  Insurance  in  the  United  States,'^ 
by  Professor  C.  J.  Henderson;  and  "Workingmen's  In- 
surance in  Europe/'  by  Frankel  and  Dawson.  Among 
European  works,  Dr.  Zacher's  great  work,  "Die  Arbeiter- 
versicherung  im  Auslande,"  ranks  foremost;  "Deutsche 
Arbeiterversicherung"  is  the  name  of  a  splendid  recent 
work  published  by  the  German  Imperial  Insurance  Office 
in  honor  of  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  celebration  of  the 
beginning  of  German  Workers'  Accident  Compensation 
Insurance;  "Unfallverhuetung  und  Betriebsicherheit" 
was  published  in  honor  of  the  same  occasion  by  the  In- 
dustrial Employers'  Associations  of  Germany,  and  "25 
Jahre  Unfallverhuetung"  is  the  title  of  a  most  excellent 
work  prepared  for  the  same  occasion  by  the  Society  of 
Accident  Prevention  Engineers.  All  of  these  works,  and 
many  others,  have  been  consulted  liberally  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  our  report. 

Anyone  possessing  the  proper  training,  knowing  where 
to  go,  and  being  armed  with  the  necessary  credentials^ 
can  secure  immense  quantities  of  statistical  and  other 
data  in  European  countries.  However,  it  requires  a 
great  deal  of  care  and  labor  to  select  from  among  tons 
of  literature  the  required  facts  and  figures,  to  condense 
them,  and  to  translate  them  into  charts  and  diagrams. 
Nevertheless,  this  is  the  only  way  in  which  the  man  of 


INTRODUCTION  xix 

affairs  can  understand  the  systems  of  other  nations,  and 
help  build  a  scheme  for  the  United  States  which  combines 
the  best  features  of  all  countries. 

We  are  gratified  at  being  the  happy  instruments 
through  which  the  wisdom  of  European  experts  is  trans- 
mitted to  our  people.  If  we  succeed  (which  we  hope  to 
do)  in  furthering  through  this  volume  the  great  cause  of 
progressive,  humane  industrialism,  greater  harmony  and 
better  understanding  between  American  employer  and 
worker,  and  higher  efficiency  of  the  nation,  the  credit 
belongs  chiefly  to  the  National  Association  of  Manufac- 
turers, which,  under  the  leadership  of  its  worthy  Presi- 
dent,   Mr.    John   Kirby,    Jr.,    and  his   associate   officers, 

has  made  this  investigation  possible.     From  among  the  Acknowl- 
edgment of 
splendid  men  who  have  assisted  us  in  every  possible  way,  valuable 

Co-operation 

often  at  great  personal  sacrifice,  and  always  with  un- 
selfish devotion  to  the  great  cause,  we  take  pleasure  in 
giving  special  credit  to  the  following  gentlemen: 

Dr.  Paul  Kaufmann,  President  of  the  German  Imperial 
Insurance  Department. 

Dr.  George  Zacher,  Director  of  the  German  Imperial 
Statistical  Department  and  one  of  the  greatest  in- 
ternational experts  on  this  subject. 

Dr.  Witowski,  Director  of  the  Imperial  German  Depart- 
ment of  Accident  Insurance. 

Dr.  Klein  and  Prof.  Hartmann,  Members  of  the  Imperial 
Insurance  Senate. 

Dr.  Spiecker,  President  of  the  Siemens  &  Halske  Co., 
Berlin,  and  Chairman  of  the  Central  Association 
of  German  Employers'  Organizations. 


XX  INTRODUCTION 

Prof.  Dr.  Alfred  Manes,  Secretary  of  the  German  Society 
for  Insurance  Science,  under  whose  supervision 
much  of  the  statistical  and  other  information  con- 
tained in  this  volume  was  prepared. 

Lord  Stalbridge,  Chairman  the  London  and  North  Western 
Railway  Company.  • 

Lord  Claude  Hamilton,  Chairman  Great  Eastern  Rail- 
way Company. 

Sir  Charles  Scotter,  Chairman  London  and  South  Western 
Railway  Company. 

His  Hon.  Judge  Alfred  Henry  Ruegg,  K.  C,  The  Middle 
Temple,  London. 

Mr.  S.  R.  Gladwell,  Secretary  Iron  Trades  Employers' 
Insurance  Association. 

Mr.  Malcolm  Delevigne,  Home  Office,  London. 

Mr.  C.  Bermingham,  Canadian  Locomotive  Works,  Kings- 
ton, Ontario. 

Mr.  J.  P.  Murray,  Toronto,  Canada. 

We  are  also  under  obligations  to  the  following  gentle- 
men who  have  assisted  us  in  material  ways  in  our  investi- 
gation : 

Dr.  Neisser,  Chief  Counsel  League  of  German  Employers' 
Associations. 

Judge  von*  Gastkowski  of  the  Berlin  Arbitration  Courts. 

H.  Weinmann,  Nuremberg,  Chairman  Quarry  Owners' 
Association. 

H.  Ritter  von  Maffei,  Munich,  Chairman  South  German 
Iron  and  Steel  Employers'  Association. 

Alfred  Fues,  Stuttgart,  Chairman  South  German  Metal 
Employers'  Association. 


INTRODUCTION  Xxi 

W.  Jail  11,  Stettin,  Chairman  I5rick  Makers'  Association. 

O.    Metzenthin,    Brandenburg,   Chairman  North  German 
Textile  Employers'  Association. 

Martin  May,  Frankfort,  Chairman  Leather  Industry  Em- 
ployers' Association. 

Arthur  Faber,  Stuttgart,  Chairman  Wood  Workers'  Em- 
ployers' Association. 

C.  Metzmacher,  Dortmund,  Chairman  Millers'  Employers' 
Association. 

A.  Lehmann,  Hamburg,  Chairman  Building  Trades  Em- 
ployers' Association. 

Emil  Jacob,  Berlin,  Chairman  Warehouse  Employers'  As- 
sociation. 

J.    Falkenhauer,    Berlin,    Chairman    Team   Owners'    As- 
sociation. 

O.  Bandke,  Berlin,  Chairman  Excavating  Employers'  As- 
sociation. 

Karl  Koegler,  Vienna,  Director  Accident  Insurance  In- 
stitute  for  lower  Austria. 

L.  Jehle,  Vienna,  Chief  Factory  Inspector  for  Austria. 

F.    X.    Karsch,    Munich,    Director   Accident    Prevention 
Institute. 

E.   Ovigstat,   Christiania,   Director  of  Norwegian   State 
Insurance. 

A.  Gutknecht,  Berne,  Director  Swiss  Statistical  Depart- 
ment. 

Ferd.  C.  Schwedtman, 

James  A.  Emery. 


Our    Sources    of    Information 

Before  introducing  our  readers  to  the  details  of  our 
work  we  want  to  place  before  them  the  story  of  our  investi- 
gation. Sound,  sensible  and  practical  results  can  be  ob- 
tained only  by  sound,  sensible  and  practical  methods. 
Therefore,  our  methods  must  in  a  measure  guarantee  the 
reliability  of  our  conclusions. 

We  have  personally  visited  England,  Germany,  France,  countries 

.  Visited 

Austria,  Hungary,  Belgium,  Holland,  Switzerland  and 
Italy.  We  have  made  a  special  investigation  of  the  acci- 
dent prevention  institutions  which  are  located  in  Amster- 
dam, Paris,  Brussels,  Berlin,  Munich,  Vienna,  Budapest, 
Zurich  and  Milan.  Most  of  our  statements  regarding  con- 
ditions in  these  places  are  based  upon  personal  observation. 
We  have  had  exceptional  opportunities  for  meeting  the 
leading  men  of  the  various  countries — Government  offi- 
cials, jurists,  industrialists,  physicians,  insurance  experts 
and  workmen. 

Fortune  favored  our  investigation.  The  25th  anni- 
versary celebration  of  the  existence  of  the  German  Acci- 
dent Insurance  System  took  place  during  our  presence  in 
Berlin.  It  brought  together  1,300  of  Germany's  most  im- 
portant men— Government  officials,  employers  and  scien- 
tists, all  experts  on  one  phase  or  another  of  accident  pre- 
vention, compensation  and  insurance.    We  were  the  only 

xxlii 


XXIV  ACCIDENT   TREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

outsiders  present  at  that  celebration,  and  we  are  under 
special  obligations  to  the  men  who  enabled  us  to  include 
in  this  volume  much  of  the  information  prepared  for  that 
occasion  when  it  is  not  three  months  old  in  Germany. 
International  lu  addition  to  tliis  source  of  information,  we  secured 

much  new  and  important  material  by  attemding  the  In- 
ternational Conference  on  Social  Insurance  at  the  Hague ; 
the  International  Law  Conference  in  London;  and  the 
International  Conference  on  Labor  Legislation  in  Lugano. 
Each  of  these  conferences  dealt  with  important  phases  of 
the  subject  of  accident  prevention,  compensation  and  in- 
surance. Our  information  regarding  the  countries 
which  we  did  not  visit  is  based  either  upon  the  statements 
made  by  representatives  of  tliese  countries  at  these  meet- 
ings, or  secured  from  the  best  known  international  experts. 
Mr.  Emery  has  given  special  attention  to  England  and 
Mr.  Schwedtman  to  Germany,  but  each  of  these  countries, 
as  well  as  the  others  named  above,  have  been  visited  by 
both  investigators,  and  every  statement,  conclusion  and 
recommendation  contained  in  this  volume  has  the  approval 
of  both. 


Table   of  Contents 

Chapter  I 

PAGE 

Outline  and  Underlying  Principles  of  European  Com- 
pensation Legislation 3 

Chapter  II 
Underlying  Principles  and  General  Working  of  the 
German    Scheme   of   Compensation   for   Occupa- 
tional Accidents 25 

Chapter  III 
Detail  Description  of  Some  of  the  Important  Features 
of  the  German  System — Efficiency,  Prompt  and 
Proper  Medical  Aid,  the  ''Doctor  Question,"  the 
Contributory  Principle    45 

Chapter  IV 
Obligatory  Insurance  an  Important  Factor  in  Acci- 
dent Compensation — Various  Forms  of  Insurance, 
Mutual  Insurance,   Statistics,   Scientific  Inspec- 
tion, Litigation 63 

Chapter  V 
Hazardous  Occupations — Comparative  Hazard  of  In- 
dustry and  Farm   ^^ 

Chapter  VI 
Prevention  of  Accidents,  Cause  and  Cure  of  Injuries, 
European  Safety  Museums  (Accident  Prevention 
Institutions)     ^ 

XXV 


XXVI  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Chapter  VII 

PAGE 

Cost  of  Accident  Compensation  Insurance  in  Ger- 
many in  Comparison  with  Similar  Kates  in  the 
United  States    131 

Chapter  VIII  • 

Employers'  Liability  in  Great  Britain  Prior  to  the 

Compensation  Acts  157 

Chapter  IX 
The  Introduction  of  the  Compensation  Principle  by 
the  Acts  of  1897  and  1900,  and  the  Investigation 
of  the  Operation  of  this  Legislation  by  the  De- 
partmental Committee  of  1904 169 

Chapter  X 
The  Final  Extension  of  the  Compensation  Principle. 
The  Act  of  1906,  Outline  of  Its  Provisions  and 
Examination  of  the  Xature  and  Extent  of  Its 
Liabilities    185 

Chapter  XI 
British    Compensation    Statistics.     The    Xeglect    to 
Record  the  Operation  of  the  Earlier  Acts  Incom- 
pletely   Remedied    by    Partial    Information    Re- 
quired Concerning  the  Act  of  1906 211 

Chapter  XII 
Insurance  under  the  Compensation  Acts 227 

Chapter  XIII 
Primal  Defects  of  the  British  Legislation 249 

Chapter  XIV 
Findings  and  Recommendations  of  the  Committee 259 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  XXVii 

Appendix 
Part  One 

Letters  from  Prominent  German  Authorities  on  the  ^^^^ 
Practical  Working  ^)f  the  German  Social  Insur- 
ance System,  with  Special  Reference  to  Accident 
Insurance , .  273 

Part  Two 

1.  English  Compensation  Act  of  1906 331 

2.  Contracting  Out  Scheme  of  Great  Eastern 
Railway  Company,  and  Financial  Operation 

of  Same  for  Year  Ending  June  30,  1910 353 

3.  Statements  Made  by  Labor  Union  Officials  and 
Employers  before  Departmental  Committee  of 
1904,  Describing  Effect  of  Act  of  1897  upon 
Elderly  and  Defective  Workmen 369 

4.  Statement  of  Purpose  and  Operation  of  the 
Iron  Trade  Employers'  Insurance  Association, 
by  the  Secretary,  Mr.  S.  R.  Gladwell,  London, 
England    373 

5.  Statistical  Tables  of  Industrial  Accidents  Dur- 
ing Years  1904-1909,  Inclusive.  Prepared  by 
Department  of  Labor,  Dominion  of  Canada  .  377 

Part  Three 
Voluntary  Relief  Associations  in  the  United  States — A 
Descriptive  Account  of  the  Practical  Working  of 
the  Systems  Adopted  by  the  International  Har- 
vester Company,  Cheney  Brothers,  and  the  Gen- 
eral Electric  Company 381 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


Fig.  1.  Frequency  and  Results  of  Accidents Frontispiece 

Fig.  2.  Injured  Workers'  Relief  in  Europe 12 

Fig.  3.  Compensation    Through    Compulsory    Insurance 13 

Fig.  4.  The  Contributory  Principle  in  Europe 14 

Fig.  5.  Arbitration  Courts,  or  Simplified  Court  Procedure  for  Com- 
pensation   Disputes    15 

Fig.  6.  Deaths  Caused  by  Occupational  Accidents 35 

Fig.  7.  Death   Causes    (Statistics   1905-07) 3$ 

Fig.  8.  Organization,    Receipts,    Expenditures    and    Funds    (1908  ) 

opposite    36 
Fig.  9.  Growth    of   Compensation   for   Accidents ..  following  Fig.   8, 

opposite    36 
Figs.  10  and  11.  EflSciency   of   German  Accident  Compensation  In- 
surance   (Statistics  for   1908) opposite    47 

Figs.  12  and  13.  Efficiency  of  German  Contributory  Mutual  Social 
Insurance.       Total     Sum     Contributed    in    Twenty-Five 

Years  for  all  Social  Insurance opposite    49 

Fig.  14.  Duration  of  Industrial  Injuries   52 

Figs.  15  and  16.  Responsibility  for  Occupational  Accidents  opposite    55 

Figc.  17  and  18.  The   Contributory   Principle    opposite    58 

Fig.  19.  Frequency  of  Industrial  Accidents  According  to  Days  and 

Hours    68 

Fig.  20.  Frequency  of  Accidents  According  to  Age  and  Sex— Indus- 
trial   Workers    ^^ 

Fig.  21.  Frequency  of  Accidents  According  to  Age  and  Sex—  Agri- 
cultural   Workers    '^ 


XXX  List    of    iLLusxRAXioNy 

PAGE 

Fig.  22.  Frequency  of  Accidents  According  to  Days  of  the  Week. 

Comparison  of  Industrial  and  Agricultural  Workers...     71 

Fig.  23.  Disputed  Compensation  Claims    78 

Figs.  24  and  25.  Comparative    Hazard    of   Industry   and    Farm    in 

Germany    opposite    83 

Fig.  26.  Permanent  and  Complete  Disability  Caused*  by  Occupa- 
tional Accidents  in  1908    84 

Fig.  27.  Partial  Permanent  Disability  Caused  by  Occupational  Ac- 
cidents  in   1908    84 

Fig.  28.  Temporary    Disability   Caused   by   Occupational    Accidents 

in    1908    85 

Fig.  29.  All  Dangerous  Parts  of  Apparatus  and  all  Safety  Devices 

are  Painted  Red  to  Attract  Workers'  Special  Attention.     88 

Fig.  30.  Accidents  and  Deaths  Among  Farm  Workers  Caused  by 
Falls  from  Ladders,  Out  of  Haylofts,  etc.,  During  one 
Year 88 

Fig.  31.  Dangerous  Animals  Must  be  Guarded 89 

Fig.  32.  Injuries    and    Deaths    Among   Farm    Workers    Caused    by 

Animal  Bites  and  Kicks   89 

Fig.  33.  Farm  Wagons  Must  be  Equipped  with  Safety  Appliances..     90 
Fig.  34.  Proper  Method    of   Loading   Timber   and   Fastening   Logs 
During  Hauling.     Number   of  Accidents   Caused  While 
Cutting  and  Hauling  Timber  During  One  Year 90 

Fig.  35.  Feed  Cutting  Machine  Without  and  With  Safety  Guards, 
Including  Number  of  Fatal  and  Non-fatal  Accidents 
Caused  by  Feed  Cutting  Machines  in  One  Year 91 

Fig.  36.  Threshing  Machine  Without  and  With  Safety  Devices,  and 
Number  of  Casualties  for  Which  Threshing  Machines 
are  Responsible  in  One  Year 91 

Fig.  37.  Farmers'  Horsepower  Mills  Must  be  Properly  Safeguarded. 
Number  of  Accidents  Due  to  This  Source  of  Danger  in 
One    Year    92 


I  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF  XXXi 

Pig.  38.  Farmers'    Power    Transmission    Machinery,    Without   an/^^^ 
With  Safety  Covering   92 

Fig.  39.  Farmers'  Power  Transmission  Machinery,  Without  and 
With  Safety  Covering.  Number  of  Accidents,  Including 
Deaths  from  this  Cause  in  One  Year 92 

Fig.  40.  Farmers'   Cider  Mill,  Without  and  With   Safety  Covering 

for   Gears 93 

Fig.  41.  Cause  and  Frequency  of  Accidents,  Analyzed  According  to 
Occupations,  1908.  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Work- 
ers'  Accident   Insurance    opposite    94 

Fig.  42.  Cause  and  Frequency  of  Accidents,  Analyzed  According 
to  Occupations.  Accident  Insurance  for  All  Trades, 
Building  Industries  and  Seamen.    Back  of  Fig.  41,  opposite    94 

Fig.  43.  Accident  Prevention,  Official  Expenditures  During  the  Past 
Twenty-five  Years  for  Inspection  and  Management,  and 
Premiums  Awarded  for  Meritorious  Life-Saving  Devices, 
Etc opposite  101 

Fig.  44.  Twenty-one    Years'    Accident   Prevention    History    for   All 

German   Industries   Combined    103 

Fig.  45.  Twenty-one    Years'    Accident    Prevention    History    in    the 

Chemical    Industry    104 

Fig.  46.  Twenty-one    Years'    Accident    Prevention    History    in    the 

Mining   Industry    105 

Fig.  47.  Twenty-one    Years'    Accident    Prevention    History    in    the 

Iron  and  Steel  Industry  106 

Fig.  48.  Twenty-one    Years'    Accident    Prevention    History    in    the 

Glass,  Pottery  and  Brick  Industries 107 

Fig.  49.  Results  of  Twenty-one  Years'  Accident  Prevention  for  all 

Industries    Combined    ^^^ 

Fig.  50.  Results  of  Twenty-one  Years'  Accident  Prevention  for  the 

108 
Chemical   Industry    


xxxii  List    of    Illustrations-        « 

PAGE 

Fig.  51.  Results  of  Twenty-one  Years'  Accident  Prevention  for  the 

Glass,  Pottery  and  Brick  Industries   10» 

Fig.  52.  Results  of  Twenty-one  Years'  Accident  Prevention  for  the 

Iron  and  Steel  Industries   109 

Fig.  53.  Results  of  Twenty-one  Years'  Accident  Prevention  for  the 

Mining    Industry    , 110 

Fig.  54.  Results  of  Twenty  Years'  Accident  Prevention  (Mine  Em- 
ployers'  Association)    Ill 

,Fig.  55.  Old  Type  Square  Cutter  Head  for  Wood  Planer 113 

Fig.  56.  Injuries   to   Workmeng'   Hands  Caused   by    Square   Cutter 

Head     113 

Fig.  57.  New  Type  Round  Cutter  Head  for  Wood  Planer 11.5 

Fig.  58.  Injuries   to   Workmens'    Hands   Caused   by   Round   Cutter 

Head , 113 

Fig.  59.  Safety  Appliance  Attached  to  Wood  Groover 114 

Fig.  60.  Circular  Saw  and  Band  Saw  for  Wood-Working  Shop  Pro- 
vided With  Safety  Device  for  the  Protection  of  Work- 
ers'  Limbs    114 

Fig.  61.  Special  Safety  Handle  for  Planing  Short  Pieces  of  Wood 

Without  Danger  to  Operator's  Hands  115 

Fig.  62.  Emerywheels  with  Protecting  Safety  Guards  and  Wood 
Planer  with  Device  Which  Protects  the  Worker's  Hands 

from  Contact  with  Gears  and  Revolving  Knives 115 

Fig.  63.  Woodworking  Machine  Without  and  With  Safety  Device..  115 

Fig.  64.  Safety  Feet  for  Ladders  , 116 

Fig.  65.  Ladders  with  Safety  Feet  Attached 117 

Fig.  66.  Safety  Covering  Used  Throughout  Berlin  on  Openings  in 
Streets  and  Sidewalks,  As  a  Means  of  Protection  Against 
Slipping 118 

Fig.  67.  Interior  View  of  Old  Vienna  Accident  Prevention  Institute  119 

Fig.  68.  Another  Interior  View  of  Old  Vienna  Accident  Prevention 

Institute    119 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF  XXXiii 

PAGE 

Fig.  69.  Exterior  View  of  Berlin  Safety  Museum 12o 

Fig.  70.  Interior  View  of  Berlin  Safety  Museum 121 

Fig.  71.  Exterior  View  of  Munich  Accident  Prevention  Institution.  122 
Fig.  72.  Interior  View  of  Munich  Accident  Prevention  Institution.  122 
Fig.  73.  Safety  Method  of  Loading  and  Unloading  Round  Timber..  123 
Fig.  74.  Loading  and  Unloading  Scrap   Iron  by  Means  of  Electro- 
magnets      ; , 124 

Fig.  75.  Safe  Handling  of  Steel  Plates  and  Beams  125 

Fig.  76.  Safety   Device  for   Handling  White  Hot  Metal  in  Rolling 

Mills     126 

Fig.  77.  Asbestos    Protection    for    Workers    Handling    Crucible    of 

Molten    Metal    127 

Fig.  78.  Photograph  of  a  Gruesome  Exhibit  at  the  Vienna  Museum, 
Showing  Decayed  Jaw  Bones,  the  Result  of  Phosphorus 
Poisoning     128 

Fig.  79.  German  Insurance  Rates  for  1909.  (Building  Trades  In- 
dustry )     133 

Fig.  80.  Twenty-two    Years'    German   History    of   Injured   Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Teaming  Industry 134 

Fig.  81.  Twenty-two    Years'    German    History   of    Injured   Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Flour  Mill  Industry 134 

Fig.  82.  Twenty-two    Years'    German   History  of   Injured   Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  River  and  Lake  Navigation...   135 

Fig.  83.  Twenty-two  Years'  German  History  of  Injured  Workers 
and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Brewing  and  Malting  In- 
dustry       ^^^ 

Fig.  84.  Twenty-two  Years'  German  History  of  Injured  Workers 
and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Agricultural  and  Horticul- 

1  "id 

tural   Industry    

Fig.  85.  Twenty^two   Years'   German   History   of   Injured   Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Tobacco  Industry 136 


xxxiv  List    of    Illustrations 

PAGE 

Fig.  86.  Twenty-two   Years'   German   History   of   Injured  Workers 
and    Insurance    Rates    for    the    Dairy,    Distilling,    and 

Starch   Industries    136 

Pig.  87.  Twenty-two    Years'    German    History    of   Injured    Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Clothing  Industry 137 

Pig.  88.  Twenty-two     Years'   German   History   of   Injured   Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Quarry  Industry 137 

Fig.  89.  Twenty-two    Years'    German    History    of    Injured   Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Textile  Industry 137 

Pig.  90.  Twenty-two    Years'    German    History    of    Injured   Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Sugar  Industry 138 

Fig.  91.  Twenty-two    Years'    German   History    of   Injured    Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Printing  Industry 138 

Fig.  92.  Twenty-two    Years'    German    History    of   Injured   Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Building  Trades  Industry.   138 
Fig.  93.  Twenty-two    Years'    German    History    of    Injured    Workers 

and    Insurance    Rates    in    the    Manufacture    of    Paper 

Articles     139 

Pig.  94.  Twenty-two    Years'    German    History    of    Injured    Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Paper  Making  Industry...   139 
Fig.  95.  Twenty-two    Years'    German    History    of    Injured   Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Pottery  Industry 139 

Pig.  96.  Twenty-two    Years'    German    History    of    Injured    Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Sea  Navigation  and  Fisher- 
ies   Industries    140 

Pig.  97.  Twenty-two    Years'    German   History   of    Injured    Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  in  Miscellaneous  Metal  Industries.  140 
Pig.  98.  Twenty-two   Years'    German    History   of    Injured   Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Excavating  and  Tunneling 

Industry    140 

Pig.  99.  Twenty-two    Years'    German    History    of    Injured    Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Glass  industry 141 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF  XXXV 

Fig.  100.  Twenty-two  Years'   German  History  of  Injured  Workers^^^^ 
and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Woodworking  Industry....  141 

Fig.  101.  Twenty-two  Years'  German  History  of  Injured  Workers 
and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Mechanical  and  Electrical 
Industries     ^ .  ^ 

Fig.  102.  Twenty-two  Years'  German  History  of  Injured  Workers 
and  Insurance  Rates  for  State  Railways,  Mail  and  Tele- 
graph   Service    242 

Fig.  103.  Twenty-two   Years'   German   History  of  Injured  Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Food  and  Canning  Industry  142 

Fig.  104.  Twenty-two   Years'   German  History  of   Injured  Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Chemical  Industry 142 

Fig.  105.  Twenty-two  Years'  German  History  of  Injured  Workers 
and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Musical  Instrument  In- 
dustry       143 

Fig.  106.  Twenty-two  Years'   German   History  of  Injured  Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Mining  Industry 143 

Fig.  107.  Twenty-two   Years'   German  History   of  Injured   Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Warehouse  Industry 143 

Fig.  108.  Twenty-two  Years'   German  History  of  Injured  Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  Street  and  Interurban  Railways  144 
Fig.  109.  Twenty-two  Years'   German  History  of  Injured  Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Brick  Making  Industry 144 

Fig.  110.  Twenty-two  Years'   German   History  of  Injured   Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Leather  Industry 144 

Fig.  111.  Twenty-two  Years'   German   History  of  Injured  Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  Private  Railways 145 

Fig.  112.  Twenty-two  Years'  German   History  of  Injured  Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  the  Iron  and  Steel  Industry 145 

Fig.  113.  Twenty-two   Years'   German   History  of   Injured  Workers 

and  Insurance  Rates  for  Gas  and  Waterworks 145 

Pig.  114.  Insurance  Cost  in  Germany  for  all  Industries  Combined..  146 


xxxvi  List    of    Illustrations 

PAGE 

Fig.  115.  Insurance  Rates  in  New  York  Before  and  After  the  En- 
actment of  Law  of  1910   151 

Fig.  116.  Comparison    of    Compensation    Insurance    Rates    in    the 

State  of  New  York  and  Germany 152 

Fig.  117.  Insurance  Rates  in  Ohio  Before  and  After  Enactment  of 

Law  of  1910    , 153 

Fig.  118.  International  Harvester  Company's  McCormick  Works..  384 
Fig.  119.  Correct   Method    of    Catching    Stream    of    Melted     Iron 

from  Foundry  Cupola   390 

Fig.  120.  Wrong    Method    of    Catching    Stream    of    Melted    Iron    in 

Foundry    391 

Fig.  121.  Right  and  Wrong  Kind  of  Clothing  and  Shoes  for  Foun- 

drymen   to  Wear   at  Work    392 

Fig.  122.  Illustration   Calling  Attention   to   the   Dangers   that  May 

Result  from  Careless  Loading  of  Trucks 393 

Fig.  123.  Showing  Dangers  Resulting  from  the  Non-Use  of  Glasses 

While  Working  at  an  Emery  Grinder 394 

Fig.  124.  Illustration  Showing  Guards  for  Wood  Shaper  Improperly 

Used     395 

Fig.  125.  Illustration  showing  Guards  for  Wood  Shaper  Used  Prop- 
erly    396 

Fig.  126.  Showing  Circular  Saw  Guard  Misused 397 

Fig.  127.  Circular  Saw  Guard  in  Use 397 

Fig.  128.  Removing  Twine  from  Shaft  of  Machine  in  Spinning  by 

Stopping  Machine  Only  Safe  Method 398 

Fig.  129.  Removing    Twine    from    Shaft    of    Machine    in    Spinning 

While  Machine  is  in  Motion,  A  Dangerous  Method 398 

Fig.  130.  View   of   Plant   of   Cheney   Brothers,    South    Manchester, 

Conn 400 

Fig.  131.  Works  of  the  General  Electric  Company  at  Lynn,  Mass. . .  414 


CHAPTER  ONE 

Outline  and  Underlying  Principles  of  European 
Compensation  Legislation 


ACCIDENT  PREVENTION 
AND  RELIEF 


CHAPTER  I 

Outline  and  Underlying  Principles  of  European 
Compensation  Legislation 

While  each  nation  possesses  problems  peculiar  to  it-  Task 
self,  some  at  least  are  shared  by  all  the  tribes  of  men.  of°Bes^ 
Most  men  are  engaged  in  satisfying  the  wants  of  others 
as  a  means  of  providing  for  their  own,  and  injury  in  the 
course  of  their  employment  is  a  distressing  but  frequently 
recurring  feature  of  every-day  life.  To  lessen  the  number 
and  degree  of  such  accidents,  to  anticipate  the  economic 
loss  they  occasion,  as  well  as  to  provide  equitable  rem- 
edies for  incapacitated  victims,  presents  a  task  worthy 
of  the  best  thought  of  our  time. 

We  must  acknowledge  that  the  Old  World  gives  this 
serious  matter  much  more  attention  than  the  New,  and 
we  are  told  that  its  action  has  been  stimulated  not  merely 
by  consideration  for  the  individual,  but  because  the  bit- 
terness and  waste  accompanying  accident  litigation  are 
perceived  to  be  against  the  public  welfare,  whilst  the  pre- 
servation of  industrial  strength  insures  the  maintenance 


Action  a 
Necessity 
but  Must 
be   Sound 


A  iil^'l  Vi\  :  '^  ApCtoSlNT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

of  national  efficiency.  In  our  own  country,  interest  in 
every  phase  of  this  question  is  rapidly  increasing  in  vol- 
ume and  extent,  and  we  are  already  being  urged  through 
powerful  influences  to  a  variety  of  state  and  national  ac- 
tion, much  of  which  would  hurry  us  along  new  paths  and 
far  from  ancient  landmarks.  But  action,  however  neces- 
sary, must  be  sound  rather  than  sudden.  Sweeping  re- 
form in  procedure,  perhaps  radical  change  in  existing 
liability,  may  be  required  from  broad  considerations  of 
justice  and  expediency,  but  the  livelihood  of  a  nation  is 
no  play-field  for  impulsive  experimentalists.  Employer 
and  employe  are  partners  in  success  or  failure;  whether 
they  like  it  or  not  their  general  fortunes  are  inseparably 
associated.  You  cannot  burden  the  one  w^ithout  taxing 
the  other,  and  neither  class  can  be  permanently  benefited 
at  the  expense  of  the  other. 

Fortunately  for  us,  we  can  spread  before  our  view  the 
variety  of  means  by  which  our  European  neighbors  have 
undertaken  during  a  considerable  period  of  time  to  pro- 
vide against  the  results  of  injury  in  employment  and  to 
control  its  cause.  It  is  true  that  their  governmental 
view^point  is  often  unlike  our  own,  but  examination  of 
their  methods  may  reveal  that  many  are  unfamiliar  to 
our  political  system  rather  than  inconsistent  with  it. 
Their  long  experience  presents  much  to  those  seeking  in- 
struction from  the  success  and  failure  of  others,  but  to 
take  profit  from  the  efforts  of  others,  we  must  understand 
not  merely  ivhat  they  do,  but  why  they  do  it.  Underlying 
what  we  term  the  compensation  legislation  of  Europe  is 
the  philosophy  offered  to  explain  and  vindicate  it. 


EUROPEAN   COMPENSATION   LEGISLATION  5 

The  starting  point  of  European  principle  is  the  stop-    Basis  of 

.     ,         /.  ,  „  ,  .    ,.  Employers' 

pmg  point  of  our  system  of  employers'  liability.  With  Liability 
us,  established  fault  is  the  sole  basis  of  recovery  in  an 
action  for  personal  injury.  An  American  workman  is  en- 
titled to  compensation  for  injury  suffered  in  employment 
only  when  he  can  show  that  he  was  free  from  blame  and 
that  his  hurt  resulted  from  the  failure  of  his  employer  or 
his  representative  to  perform  some  legal  duty.  Our  courts 
are  daily  engaged  in  ascertaining,  from  the  circumstances 
presented  to  their  notice,  what  was  the  degree  of  duty  to 
which  the  employer  was  obligated  and  the  amount  of  risk 
which  the  workman  undertook  as  an  incident  of  his  em- 
ployment. It  may  and  often  does  happen  that  the  evi- 
dence shows  no  negligence  upon  the  part  of  either  plain- 
tiff or  defendant,  but  that  the  injury  arose  from  a  hazard 
of  the  emplo3'ment  for  which  there  is  no  personal  re- 
sponsibility. How  often  this  occurs  in  the  industries  of 
a  given  nation  will  be  later  considered,  but  to  illustrate 
the  philosophy  we  are  following,  some  recent  English 
figures  will  suffice. 

The  Report  of  the  Chief  Factory  Inspector  of  Great   Responsibility 

^  *^  ^  for .  Accidents 

Britain  for  the  year  1909  relates  incidentally  that  a  care- 
ful analysis  was  made  of  1644  accidents  especially  in- 
vestigated during  a  period  of  twelve  months:  ''373  were 
shown  to  be  attributable  to  the  absence  or  insufficiency  of 
fencing;  552  were  due  to  the  fault  of  the  injured  person; 
676  were  unpreventable,  and  43  were  marked  as  doubt- 
ful." (a)  The  recognition  of  such  conditions  gave  the  orig- 
inating impulse  to  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  European 
social  legislation. 

(a)  Cd.  5191,  page  XXXIV. 


6  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

It  asks  us  to  realize  that  the  extended  use  of  tools, 
mechanical  implements  and  appliances  in  all  employ- 
ments creates  an  element  of  inherent  hazard  unknown  to 
the  simpler  working  conditions  of  the  past,  unavoidable 
by  human  precaution,  continually  increasing  and  daily 
entering  into  occupations  to  which  its  presence  was  for- 
merly a  stranger.  It  is  presumed  that  this  risk,  inherent 
in  the  way  the  world  does  its  work,  is  not  likely  to  de- 
crease. It  is  pointed  out  that  our  necessities,  comforts, 
the  whole  complicated  structure  of  material  civilization, 
rest  upon  the  continued  operation  and  extended  applica- 
tion of  many  potentially  dangerous  forces  and  instrumen- 
talities, which  man  has  brought  into  his  service,  and  upon 
the  continued  use  of  which  he  is  dependent. 
Principle  of  Under  these  conditions  the  worker  is  exposed  to  and 

Trade 

Hazard  rcccivcs  iujurics  arising  from  neither  the  fault  of  him- 

self, his  fellows  nor  his  superiors,  but  where  the  recovery 
rests  upon  proof  of  negligence,  he  must  bear  the  economic 
burden  resulting  from  his  disability,  or  leave  it  upon  the 
shoulders  of  his  dependents  in  case  of  his  death.  From 
these  considerations,  it  follows  that  there  are  unavoid- 
able as  well  as  avoidable  accidents  and  the  former  ought 
to  be  a  burden  upon  the  employment  in  which  they  occur 
instead  of  the  individual  to  whom  they  occur. 

If  we  turn  to  the  Germans,  who  first  gave  practical 
application  to  this  principle,  we  find  that,  as  in  other 
countries  which  later  adopted  it,  it  was  a  primary  but 
not  exclusive  consideration  in  the  formulation  of  a  com- 
pensatory scheme.  Other  conditions,  not  unlike  those 
arousing  our  present  attention,  were  contributing  factors 
finding  later  expression  as  an  integral  part  of  the  new 
system. 


EUROPEAN   COMPENSATION   LEGISLATION  7 

Dr.  Boediker,  first  president  of  the  German  Imperial 
Insurance  Office,  relates  that  when  the  first  Accident  In- 
surance Bill  was  laid  before  the  Reichstag  in  1881,  it  was 
accompanied  by  an  explanation  and  argument  in  support 
of  its  policy,  which,  referring  to  the  unsatisfactory  opera- 
tion of  the  existing  Employers'  Liability  Law  of  1871,  a 
measure  resting  upon  negligence;  said: 

^^This  condition  is  unbearable.     The  workman  is  conditiens 
insufficiently  protected  by  the  present  law  against  Germany 

1 881 

the  dangers  of  his  calling,  whilst  onerous  burdens 
are  placed  upon  the  employer  and  the  relations  be- 
tween emi)loyer  and  employe  grow  worse  instead  of 
better.    A  condition  has  been  created,  the  removal  of 
Avhich  is  desirable  in  the  interest  of  both  classes  of 
the  industrial  population." 
Recognizing  the  principle  of  trade  hazards,  but  un- 
doubtedly influenced  by  circumstances  of  social  discon- 
tent, Bismarck  proposed  the  poli<3ies  which  have  ripened 
in    the   vast   German   system   of  social   insurance.     The 
changes  which  it  wrought  in  the  fundamental  principles 
of  employers'  liability  at  the  civil  law  were  adopted  within 
twenty   years   by   practically   all   the   states   of   Conti- 
nental  Europe.     But   the   spirit   and   practical   methods 
of   applying   the   new   German   philosophy   were   not   as 
closely   imitated.      The   essential   difeerences   which   can 
arise  in  the  application  of  a  basic  principle  are  strik- 
ingly  illustrated  in  the  contrast .  presented  by  German 
and  English  legislation. 

The  German  system,  we  are  told  in  a  special  state- 
ment made  by  Dr.  Neisser,  chief  counsel  for  the  League 


Principles 
of  the 
German 
System 


8  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

of  German  Employers^  Accident  Insurance  Associations, 
rests  upon  four  principles  : 

1.  It  proceeds  from  the  assumption  that  he  who 
creates  an  enterprise,  that  peculiar  structure  of  human 
beings,  things  and  forces,  and  induces  men  to  labor 
amongst  arms  of  steel,  moving  at  high  speed,  establishes 
a  source  of  danger  and  becomes  responsible  for  damage 
resulting  from  this  source.  Under  this  theory  employers^ 
fault  need  not  he  proven.  The  fact  that  injury  has  been 
caused  establishes  claim  for  compensation. 

2.  Convinced  that  in  many  cases  the  resources  of 
the  individual  employer  would  not  prove  equal  to  the 
enormously  increased  liability,  and  that  therefore  the  ex- 
istence of  the  employer  as  well  as  compensation  of  the 
injured  worker  would  be  jeopardized,  individual  respon- 
sibility is  eliminated  and  in  its  place  is  put  the  collective 
responsibility  of  the  industry. 

3.  To  carry  out  this  idea,  large  industries,  and,  later 
on,  commerce  and  crafts,  or  small  industries,  were  or- 
ganized into  employers'  associations  grouped  according 
to  callings.  Thus  legally  incorporated,  self-governing 
bodies  were  formed  and  each  and  every  employer  was 
compelled  by  law  to  join.  The  miller  must  join  the  Mil- 
lers' Employers'  Association  ;  the  teamster,  the  Employers^ 
Teaming  Association,  etc.  Upon  these  organizations  was 
placed  the  responsibility  of  carrying  and  administering 
the  accident  compensation  system,  and  to  this  end  they 
were  invested  w^ith  far-reaching  legal  powers  for  enforc- 
ing their  rules,  for  raising  money,  etc. 


EUROPEAN   COMPENSATION   LEGISLATION  9 

4.  Accident  prevention  being  of  greater  importance 
and  larger  social  value  than  compensation,  was  also 
placed  in  the  hands  of  these  employers'  associations,  with 
the  necessary  legal  authority  for  enforcement. 

The  first  two  principles,  w^e  observe,  define  liability, 
the  third  is  one  of  administration,  whilst  the  last  links 
the  compensation  and  prevention  of  accident. 

We  have,  unfortunately,  no  such  compact  authoritative  principles  and 

Policy  of 

statement  of  the  elements  of  English  legislation,  nor  can   English 

Legislation 

they  be  so  readily  epitomized,  but  w^e  may  gather  the 
principle  and  policy  from  equally  authoritative  sources. 
Mr.  Asquith,  the  present  Prime  Minister,  defined  the 
principle,  when  outlining  his  proposals  for  the  Act  of 
1906 :  ^'Where  a  person,  on  his  own  responsibility  and  for 
his  own  profit,  sets  in  motion  agencies  Avhich  create  risk 
for  others,  he  should  be  civilly  responsible  for  the  conse- 
quences of  what  he  does.'' 

Mr.  Joseph  Chamberlain,  discussing  the  Act  of  1897, 
declared  the  policy  on  the  floor  of  Parliament  in  the  de- 
bate which  preceded  its  adoption: 

^This  new  principle  the  government  would  only 
be  justified  in  applying  by  some  great  public  human 
interest.  Now,  that  great  public  human  interest 
arose  in  the  case  of  what  he  might  call  serious  acci- 
dents. The  sufferers  from  those  accidents  were  the 
wounded  soldiers  of  industry  whom  tliey  had  in 
their  minds,  and  about  whom  so  much  was  said  in 
discussing  this  subject— people  who  were  seriously, 
if  not  permanently,  injured,  and  prevented,  at  all 
events  for  a  considerable  period,   from   following 


10 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Purpose    of 
English 
Act  of  1897 


Comparison 
of  the 
German  and 
English 
Viewpoints 


their   ordinary   employment.    There   would   be   no 
ground  for   legislative  interference  if  they  could 
believe  that  every  accident  which  occurred  was  an 
accident  whose  effects  would  not  last  longer  than 
three  weeks.    Sucli  accidents  as  those  were  accidents 
for  which  the  workman  might  very  jfroperly  be  ex- 
pected to  make  provision  himself." (a) 
This  statement  of  the  purpose  of  the  British  legisla- 
tion is   confirmed  by  the  Departmental   Committee   ap- 
pointed in  1904  to  investigate  the  operation  of  the  Act  of 
1897.     It  said: 

"That  the  employer  should  be  compelled  to  make 
such  provision  as  will,  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, be  sufficient  for  the  actual  necessities 
resulting  from  the  accident.  ♦  *  *  xhe  Act  is 
aimed  at  affording  substantial  relief  from  the 
consequences  of  misfortune,  but  not  complete 
indemnity."     *     *     *(^) 

"We  apprehend  that  the  principle  of  the  Act  of 
1897  is  to  provide  such  a  degree  of  relief  to  de- 
pendents in  the  case  of  fatal  accidents  as  shall  af- 
ford reas(mable  assistance  for  maintenance."  (^) 
A  brief  comparison  of  the  German  and  English  view- 
points shows  the  legislators  of  both  countries  to  be  alike 
in  recognizing  the  principle  of  trade  risk.     This  Great 
Britain  meets  by  extending  personal  liability  to  assure 
limited  compensation   for   injury.      Germany   eliminates 


(a)  Hansard,  Vol.  49,  1316  (1897). 

(b)  Report  Departmental  Committee,  1904,  Ca.  2208,  page  13. 
(c).    Report  Departmental  Committee,  1904,  Ca.  2208,  page  37. 


EUROPEAN   COMPENSATION   LEGISLATION  11 

personal  liabilit}-,  substituting  compulsory  mutual  insur- 
ance against  accident,  administered  by  its  contributors. 
Germany  unites  attack  upon  the  cause,  with  defense 
against  the  effect  of  injury ;  the  British  policy  bears  no  re- 
lation to  accident  prevention.  The  German  administrative 
principle  aims  at  removing  the  element  of  personal  an- 
tagonism between  employer  and  employe  in  controversies 
arising  from  personal  injury;  the  British  disregards  it. 
The  British  legislature  intervenes  to  relieve  dependency; 
the  German  to  confer  a  right  to  assistance  in  return  for 
contribution.  By  each,  accident  is  regarded  as  wholly  at- 
tributable to  trade  risk  and  the  personal  factor  is 
eliminated. 

To  make  every  employer  a  limited  insurer  in  law  is 
the  legal  basis  of  all  so-called  compensatory  legislation. 
Not  every  country,  however,  pursues  the  final  logic  of  its 
own  law.  Some  merely  extend  the  personal  liability  of 
the  employer,  others  eliminate  it,  creating,  by  compulsory 
contribution,  a  fund  from  which  compensation  is  paid. 
With  a  few  striking  exceptions,  all  countries,  but  not  with 
equal  success,  strive  to  lessen  the  causes  as  well  as  the 
hardships  of  injury. 

An  extreme  employers'  liability  law  is  still  in  force  Employers* 

LmDility 

in  Switzerland,  proposed  compensatory  legislation  having  ^aw^^n^^^ 
been  defeated  by  an  initiative  and  referendum  vote.  An 
elaborate  plan  of  accident  insurance  providing  for  con- 
tribution from  employer,  employe  and  the  state,  has, 
however,  been  formulated  and  will  in  all  likelihood  be  en- 
acted within  a  year. 


12 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


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EUROPEAN   COMPENSATION   LEGISLATION  13 

A  majority  of  European  countries  have  found  a  com- 
pensation  act  of  little  use  unless  obligatory  insurance 
guarantees  the  compensation  awards  to  the  injured  work- 
man witliout  over-burdening  the  small  employer. 

FIGURE   3 
COMPENSATION     THROUGH     CQMPULSORY     INSURANCE 


Compulsory  insurance  for  all  workers  (red)  in  Austria,  Finland,  Germany, 
Holland,  Hungary,  Italy,  Luxemburg,  Norway. 

Compulsory  insurance  for  part  of  wage  workers  (dotted)  in  Denmark, 
France. 

Optional  insurance    (white) — Belgium,  England,  Spain,  Sweden. 


In  Germany,  Austria  and  Luxemburg  the  employer  is    insurance 

Associations 

required,  as  a  condition  of  doing  business,  to  belong  to    in  European 

Countries 

insurance  associations,  organized  by  crafts  or  sections,  or 
administered  by  the  employers  themselves,  subject  to 
state  supervision.  In  the  Netherlands,  Italy,  Sweden, 
Finland,  Hungary  and  Norw^ay  the  state  itself  maintains 


14  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

an  insurance  institution,  of  which  the  employer  may  avail 
himself,  except  in  Hungary  and  Norway,  where  he  has 
no  choice,  it  being  the  only  form  of  insurance  permitted. 
The  state  guarantees  payments  of  compensation  in 
France,  Germany,  Italy,  Hungary,  the  Netherlands  and 
Norway.  • 

Contributory  The  coutributory  principle  plays  an  important  part  in 

E^lopTiniLws    fclie  compensation  laws  of  Europe,  as  is  evident  from  the 
following  figure. 

FIGURE   4 
THE    CONTRIBUTORY   PRINCIPLE    IN    EUROPE 


Employers  pay  whole  compensation  (red)  in  Belgium,  England,  Finland, 
Holland,  Hungary,  Italy,  Spain. 

Workmen  or  state  contribute  (white)  in  Austria,  Denmark,  France, 
Germany,  Luxemburg,  Norway,  Sweden. 


EUROPEAN   COMPENSATION   LEGISLATION  15 

The  extent  to  which  European  countries  have  adopted 
simplified  court  procedure  or  special  arbitration  courts 
for  settlement  of  compensation  disputes  is  shown  in  the 


next  figure. 


FIGURE  5 


ARBITRATION    COURTS,   OR   SIMPLIFIED   COURT  PROCE- 
DURE    FOR    COMPENSATION    DISPUTES 


Countries  with  simplified  court  procedure  for  settlement  of  disputes  (red), 
Austria,  Belgium,  Denmark,  England  France,  Germany,  Holland,  Hungary. 
Italy,  Norway. 

Countries  with  regular  court  procedure  (white),  Finland,  Spain,  Sweden. 

Germany  established  its  system  in  1884,  Norway  in  Dates^of^_ 
1894,  Finland  in  1895,  Great  Britain  in  1897,  France  and  ^ent^ot^ 
Italy  in  1898,  Spain  in  1900,  Holland  in  1901,  Belgium 
in  1903,  and  Russia  in  1904.  Between  1901  and  1905 
New  Zealand,  Australia,  and  the  Canadian  Provinces  of 
British  Columbia  and  Alberta  followed  the  lead  of  the 
Mother  Country,  Quebec  adopting  the  substantial  provi- 


16 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION  AND    BELIEF 


Comparison 
of    European 
Compensation 
Legislation 


sions  of  the  French  law  in  1909.  ^Yhile  all  this  legisla- 
tion presents  underlying  identities,  it  is  worked  out  with 
a  variety  of  dissimilarity  in  secondary  principles  and 
methods  expressing  national  traditions  and  character- 
istics, and  differing  views  of  public  obligation.  These 
differences  of  degree  and  kind  in  the  creajion  of  liability 
and  administrative  detail  while  interesting  are  not  of 
sufficient  importance  to  warrant  detailed  attention.  They 
were  strikingly  suggested  in  the  brief  analysis  made  by 
Sir  John  Gray  Hill  at  the  London  Conference  of  the  In- 
ternational Law  Association  in  August  1910.  He  pointed 
out  that  the  acts  of  different  countries  vary  from  one 
another  in  the  following  way : 

1.  Whether  the  employer  is  personally  liable  to  the 
employe,  or  only  bound  to  provide  or  contribute  to  the 
cost  of  an  insurance  fund  out  of  which  payment  is  to  be 
made. 

2.  Whether,  when  the  employer  is  liable,  his  liability 
is  for  accidents  however  caused,  or  only  for  those  due 
to  negligence  of  the  Superintendent  appointed  by  him 
or  by  his  authority,  or  to  the  defective  state  of  the  ap- 
pliances used  in  the  work. 

3.  The  occupations  to  which  the   enactments  relate. 

4.  The  maximum  amount  of  annual  earnings  which 
exclude  an  employe  from  the  benefit  of  the  Act. 

5.  The  acts  of  the  employe  in  relation  to  the  accident 
which  disentitle  him  to  establish  his  claim. 

6.  The  extent  of  the  claim  of  the  employe  or  his  de- 
pendents.   In  this  are  included — 

(a)   In  case  of  temporary  disablement,  the  right  to 
medical  treatment,  nursing,    etc.,   and  the  duty 


EUROPEAN   COMPENSATION  LEGISLATION  17 

to  submit  to  the  same;  the  period  after  the 
accident  at  which  the  first  payment  having 
reference  to  wages  becomes  due;  the  proportion 
which  the  payment  bears  to  wages;  the  mini- 
mum and  maximum  limits  both  as  to  the 
amount  and  as  to  the  period  for  which  they 
are  to  be  continued ;  and  special  provisions 
as  to  persons  under  age. 
(b)  In  case  of  permanent  disablement,  whether 
partial  or  total,  the  enactments  differ  as  to  the 
like  questions,  and  also  as  to  whether  a  certain 
value  or  scale  of  compensation  should  be  ap- 
plied to  the  loss  of  a  particular  part  of  the 
body  of  the  employe,  such  as  a  leg,  an  arm,  or 
an  eye. 

7.  In  case  of  death —  variations 

,._-,,,  i,        o  1  ^"    European 

(a)  The  allowance  for  funeral  expenses.  Laws  in  com- 

(b)  The  rights  of  the  dependents — what  relations  Death 
are  to  be  considered  as  such,  and  in  what  order, 

and  whether  illegitimate  relations  are  to  be 
included,  and  to  what  extent — the  mode  of  ar- 
riving at  the  amount  payable,  whether  by  lump 
sum  or  by  annuity — the  period  for  which  the 
latter  is  to  last  and  the  minimum  and  maximum 
limits  as  to  amount. 

8.  How  the  enactment  is  to  be  administered,  e.  g. — 

(a)  How  far  government  or  other  officials  acting 
independently  of  the  employer  and  employes  are 
to  intervene  in  the  administration. 

(b)  Whether  questions  as  to  the  interpretation  of 
the  enactments,   and  the  rights  of  the  parties 


18 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Recognition 
of  the 
Compensa- 
tory  Principle 
in  the  United 
States 


under    them    are    to    be    decided    by    a    special 

tribunal,    or    by    the    ordinary    courts    of    the 

country  concerned. 
(g)  What  powers  of  appeal  are  to  be  given, 
(d)   How  the   expenses  involved  in   the  settlement 

of  these  questions  are  to  be  bori^. 

9.  Whether  sickness'  and  disease  not  arising  from 
accident  are  to  be  provided  for. 

10.  The  bearing  of  the  enactment  upon  the  limit  of 
liability  of  shipowners  for  loss  of  life  or  personal  injury. 

.11.  Whether  the  employe  shall  be  entitled  to  enforce 
a,  claim  against  a  foreign  shipowner  residing  out  of  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  courts  of  the  country  where  the  em- 
ploye resides,  by  arrest  of  his  ship,  situate  for  the  time 
being  within  the  jurisdiction. 

12.  Whether  the  employe  shall  be  entitled  to  contract 
with  the  employer,  under  any  and  what  circumstances, 
not  to  claim  the  benefits  of  the  enactment. 

In  our  own  country  the  compensatory  principle  has  re- 
ceived limited  recognition  in  the  coal  mining  industries 
of  Montana.  In  New  York,  it  was  given  more  extended 
application  in  a  measure  which  became  effective  in 
September  1910.  Congress,  in  1908,  passed  a  very 
restricted  statute  of  compensation  for  the  benefit  of 
artisans  and  laborers  in  the  federal  service.  Its  ad- 
ministration is  in  the  hands  of  the  Secretary  of  Com- 
merce and  Labor.  Under  its  provisions  he  may  allow  to 
the  workmen  in  certain  specified  federal  employments 
full  pay  for  one  year  or  less  during  disability  resulting 
from  injuries  received  at  work.  It  is  provided,  however, 
that  no  compensation   shall   be  paid   unless   the  injury 


EUROPEAN   COMPENSATION   LEGISLATION  19 

results  in  disability  for  more  than  fifteen  days  and  is 
not  due  to  the  negligence  or  misconduct  of  the  applicant. 
In  case  of  death  from  a  work  injury,  the  widow,  child 
or  children,  or  dependent  parents,  are  entitled  to  receive, 
in  such  proportion  as  the  Secretary  may  determine,  the 
v\'orkman's  full  wages  for  one  year. 

In  many  countries  of  Europe,  the  compensatory  prin-  Tendency  to 

.     -  .       .  Apply   Com- 

ciple  was  m  its  early  stages  applied  to  selected  industrial  pensation  prin- 
ciple to  all 
groups,  but  as  conventional  notions  of  the  relative  hazard  Employments 

of  various  employments  yielded  to  the  accumulated  rec- 
ords of  experience,  agriculture  was  laid  under  the  same 
burden  as  industry,  and  practically  all  employments  are 
now  covered. 

Reviewing  this  brief  examination  of  the  origin  and 
general  nature  and  development  of  what  is  termed  the 
compensation  legislation  of  Europe,  the  mind  must  be 
impressed  with  the  presence  in  all  foreign  systems  of 
certain  common  elements : 

1.  That  the  general  policy  is  to  shift  the  economic  shifting 

'^  1  ./  Liability 

burden  of  iniurv  from  the  individual  to  the  employment  from  individual 

**       ^  to  Industry 

in  which  it  is  received,  and  through  it,  as  an  incidental 
cost  of  production,  to  general  society.  The  practical  aim 
is  to  mve  an  assurance  of  limited  compensation.  The 
original  basis  of  the  proposal  is  insurance,  either  in- 
directly by  the  creation  of  a  limited  right  of  recovery 
against  the  employer,  or  directly  by  establishing  a  fund 
to  which  contribution  is  enforced:  one  method  estab- 
lishing an  insurance  fund  and  eliminating  personal 
liability,  and  the  other  extending  personal  liability  with- 
out an  insurance  fund. 


20 


ACCIDENT    PREVENTION    AND   RELIEF 


Accident  Pre- 
vention In- 
separable   from 
Compensation 


Contribu- 
tory Insur- 
ance Dis- 
tinct from 
Personal 
Liability 


Conceptions 
of  Public 
Authority 
in  Europe 


2.  That  the  cause  of  accident  requires  consideration 
equally  with  its  consequences.  Injury  must  be  lessened 
as  well  as  relieved,  and  therefore  while  fault  ceases  to  be 
the  basis  of  recovery,  misconduct  imperiling  the  life  and 
limb  of  others  must  be  severely  penalized. 

3.  That  systems  based  upon  contributory  insurance 
are  distinct  in  fundamental  principle  from  those  which 
merely  extend  personal  liability.  The  first  establishes  a 
legal  right  to  assistance  arising  from  the  contribution  of 
the  person  assisted.  The  second  establishes  a  legal  duty 
to  relieve  dependence  existing  in  another.  The  former 
anticipates  impaired  working  capacity;  the  latter  pro- 
vides relief  against  existing  distress.  One  makes  the 
worker  help  himself;  the  other  nmkes  the  employer  help 
him. 

4.  All  insurance  systems  strive  to  bring  emploj^er  and 
employe  together.  All  based  upon  personal  liability  avoid 
consideration  of  the  elements  of  personal  antagonism. 

5.  The  many  evils  of  litigation  being  a  motive  for 
change,  all  states  endeavor  to  provide  a  simplified  pro- 
cedure, insuring  speedy,  cheap  and  efficient  adjustment 
of  claims  free  from  technical  delay. 

Back  of  all  this  vast  body  of  European  law  lies 
fundamental  conceptions  of  public  authority'  essentially 
differing  from  our  own,  and  generally  dominant,  par- 
liaments approaching  the  subject-matter  of  regulation 
with  substantially  none  of  those  checks  upon  legislative 
action  which  are  an  important  part  of  our  system  of 
government.  The  legislatures  with  which  we  are  familiar 
are  subject  in  the  exercise  of  their  power  to  the  sharp 


EUROPEAN   COMPENSATION   LEGISLATION  21 

restraints  of  the  written  constitutions  of  their  state  and 
of  the  nation.  Few  of  the  countries  of  Europe  possess 
written  constitutions.  In  many,  the  legislature  is  the 
supreme  authority,  exercising  its  power  with  substantially 
slight  restraint. 

The  Continental  notion  of  law  is  quite  different  from 
our  own.  Its  people  are  accustomed  by  the  habits  of 
their  national  life  to  yield  obedience  to  rules  of  conduct 
prescribed  by  an  autocratic  authority  for  inferior  sub- 
jects. Americans,  like  Britons,  regard  established  custom  Established 
as  the  basis  of  law  and  regard  with  vigorous  resentment   Basis  of 

,..  ,T  ,•  n  -,  -.,.         English  and 

arbitrary  proposals  departing  from  long  accepted  habits  American  Law 
of  thought  and  action.  Indeed,  from  the  Norman  con- 
quest to  Magna  Charta,  English  history  is  a  record  of 
the  continuous  struggle  between  William  the  Conqueror 
and  his  successors  to  compel  the  acceptance  of  the 
Continental  notion  of  law  and  the  Saxon  struggling  to 
reassert  the  supremacy  of  rights  based  upon  long  con- 
tinued usage. 

Partly   from    these   considerations,    attention   is   con-  Reasons  for 

•^  Concentrating 

centrated  in  the  ensuing  pages  upon  the  compensatory  Attention  upon 

Compensation 

systems    of    Great    Britain    and    Germany.     From    the  Experience  of 

Great   Britain 

former,  we  have  derived  our  principles  of  jurisprudence  and  Germany 
and  our  methods  of  legal  administration.  The  legisla- 
tion of  Parliament  and  the  decisions  of  British  courts 
have  always  exerted  a  powerful  influence  on  the  legis^ 
latures  of  our  states  and  nation  and  the  course  of  our 
judicial  decisions.  We  naturally  anticipate  with  special 
interest  and  hope  to  profit  by  examination  of  the  manner 
in  which  principles  and  methods  foreign  to  our  system 
have   been   introduced   and   have  operated  in   a  nation 


22  ACCIDENT    PREVENTION   AND    RELIEF 

whose  notions  of  personal  liability  and  whose  industrial 
conditions  and  legislative  traditions  are  like  our  own. 
German  On  the  Other  hand,   we  turn  to  Germany,   not  only 

Compensation 

Legislation  and  because    that    country    originated    and    developed    these 

statistics 

Authoritatively    Meas,   which  half  the  world  has  imitated,   but  because, 

Recognized 

as  we  shall  observe,  it  has  fashioned  peculiarh'  demo- 
cratic methods  of  administration.  Moreover,  Germany  is 
recognized  throughout  Europe  as  the  great  exemplar  and 
authority  upon  the  development  and  application  of 
these  principles,  and  exercises  a  dominant  influence  in 
their  study  and  application.  But  perhaps  the  strongest 
of  all  reasons  for  dwelling  upon  the  system  and  records 
of  that  great  empire  is  because,  Avith  characteristic 
thoroughness,  she  has  compiled  marvelously  detailed 
information  respecting  every  circumstance  of  her  ex- 
perience, and  progressively  applies  it  to  the  continuous 
development  of  a  scientific  scheme  of  accident  preven- 
tion and  compensation.  No  other  nation  in  the  world 
^  .        possesses   data   equally   complete   and   extensive.      More- 

Oerman  Data         -^  i  J  f 

AuThentfc^"^*^  ©ver,  in  her  population,  in  the  character  and  distribu- 
tion of  employment,  in  the  extended  use  and  continued 
application  of  tools  and  mechanical  appliances  to  new 
occupations,  in  the  comparative  ratio  of  agricultural  to 
industrial  workers,  in  fact,  in  all  of  the  circumstances 
of  commercial  and  industrial  life  which  make  compari- 
son profitable,  Germany  presents,  upon  the  largest  scale, 
the  most  instructive  example  to  which  we  can  turn  to 
form  practical  conclusions  respecting  the  value  of  the 
novel  principles  in  which  we  are  interested. 


CHAPTER  TWO 

Underlying  Principles  ancl  General  Working  of  tLe 

German  ScLeme  of  Compensation  for 

Occupational  Accidents 


CHAPTER  II 

Underlying  Principles  and  General  Working  of  the 

German  Scheme  of  Compensation  for 

Occupational  Accidents 

Germany  is  a  nation  of  63,000,000  people.     Her  pro-  comparative 
portion  of  industrial  and  agricultural  population  is  not  ^^^^^^"^^ 
very  much  different  from  that  of  the  United  States,  as  is 
evident  from  the  following  figures: 

Comparison  of  United  States  and  German  statistics. 

Population. 
Occupations.  Germany.       United  States. 

1907  1900 

1.  Agriculture,  Horticulture,  Stock 

Raising,  Forestry,  etc.,               9,883,257  10,381,765 

2.  Industry,                                          11,256,251  7,085,309 

3.  Trade  and  Transportation,            3,477,626  4,766,964 

4.  Domestic   and   Personal   Service 

and  Public  Service,  471,695      5,580,657 

5.  Professional  and  Public  Service,    1,738,530       1,258,538 


Totals,  26,827,362    29,073,233 

Public  Officials  and  Soldiers  in  the  United  States  are  covered  under 

No.  4,  in  Germany  under  No.  5. 
See  United  States  Statistical  Abstract  1909  and  Statistisches  Jahrbuch 

1910. 


25 


26  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

Twenty-five  years  ago  the  leading  men  of  Germany 
became  dissatisfied  with  the  workings  of  its  employers' 
liability  laws  because,  like  our  statutes,  they  were  waste- 
ful, slow  in  operation  and  antagonistic  to  harmonious 
relations  between  employers  and  wage  workers.  Prince 
Bismarck  was  the  prime  mover  in  bringing  reform.  He 
reasoned  that  while  the  German  government  had  excep- 
tional powers  to  force  arbitrary  laws  upon  her  employers, 
it  would  not  be  wise  to  use  this  power  autocratically. 
Instead  of  opposing  employers,  and  especially  employers' 
associations.  Prince  Bismarck  conceived  the  idea  of 
making  them  the  very  instruments  for  carrying  out  a 
novel  scheme  of  compensation  on  scientific  and  efficient 
lines.  As  a  result  the  whole  accident  prevention  and 
com^eniauon^  compcusatiou  systcm  of  the  German  empire  rests  upon 
German  ^^  the  shouldcrs  of  employers'  associations,  and  these  have 

succeeded,  with  the  co-operation  of  workers,  and  undei* 
the  supervising  control  of  the  government,  in  making  the 
German  plan  the  greatest  example  of  what  can  be  ac- 
complished by  a  nation  with  proper  co-operation  and 
organization  between  government,  employers  and  workers. 
The  first  law  enacted  on  July  6,  1884,  for  the  indus- 
tries, was  followed  with  an  extension  law  on  May  28, 
1885,  for  land  and  water  transportation,  including  tele- 
graph, marine  and  army.  It  was  again  extended  on  May 
5,  1886,  to  cover  agricultural  and  horticultural  pursuits 
and  forestry.  It  was  further  extended  on  July  11,  1887, 
to  cover  building  industries,  tunneling,  excavating,  etc., 
and  finally,  on  July  13,  1887,  sailors  and  fishermen  were 
covered. 


Accident 


COMPENSATION   FOR   OCCUPATIONAL  ACCIDENTS         27 

In  the  year  1900  a  revision  of  the  various  laws  re-   Revision  of 

Laws   in 

suited  in  their  simplification  and  partial  unification  and  i9oo 
at  the  present  time  another  endeavor  is  being  made  to 
simplify  and  co-ordinate  the  various  social  insurance 
acts  providing  for  sickness,  accident  and  invalidity  relief. 
The  philosophy  and  the  economic  and  legal  basis 
upon  which  Germany's  system  is  built,  as  well  as  its 
advantages  and  disadvantages,  can  best  be  judged  from 
a  statement  which  we  have  secured  from  G.  Neisser, 
LL.D.,  Imperial  Counsellor,  and  one  of  Germany's  fore- 
most legal  authorities  on  this  subject.  A  translation  of 
his  statement  is  as  follows: 

"Production  and  commerce  have  been  subjected  to 
far-reaching  changes  during  this  generation.  This,  in 
connection  with  feverishly  intensified  speed  of  all  work- 
ing processes,  has  increased  the  chance  of  accidental  in- 
jury to  an  unusual  degree.  In  view  of  the  changes,  the 
civil  laws  of  nations  failed  to  meet  the  situation.  They 
gave  injured  workers  a  claim  to  damages  only  upon 
establishing  the  employers'  individual  fault. 

"Neither  did  the  German  Imperial  Liability  Laio  of 
June  1,  1871,  meet  the  practical  requirements  of  safe- 
guarding the  w^orker  against  the  economic  results  of  his 
occupational  hazards.  Based  upon  the  changes  brought 
about  through  industrial  progress,  it  increased  em- 
ployers' liability,  but  it  maintained  the  principle  of 
responsibility  through  fault. 

"Guided  by  experience  and  carried  on  by  the  senti-   m^^-Jl^^ 
ment  of  increased  social  responsibility  which,  during  the   interested 
last  quarter  of  a  century,  permeated  all  classes  of  our 
Vaterland,   Germany's   leading  men  undertook  to  make 


28 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Principles 
on  Which 
Reform  will 
be  Based 


Employer 
Must  Join 
Association 
of  liis  Calling 


legal  provision  lor  workers  injured  through  accidents 
upon  an  entirely  new  and  hitherto  unknown  basis.  This 
magnificent  reform  work  rests  upon  four  principles: 

^^1.  Proceeding  from  the  assumption  that  he  who 
creates  an  ^enterprise',  that  peculiar  structure  of  human 
beings,  things  and  forces,  and  induces  human  beings  to  la- 
bor among  arms  of  steel  moving  at  uncanny  speeds,  estab- 
lishes a  source  of  danger  and  becomes  responsible  for 
damage  resulting  from  this  source.  Under  this  theory 
employers'  fault  need  not  be  proven.  The  fact  that  in- 
jury has  been  caused  establishes  a  right  to.  compensation. 

'^2.  Convinced  that  in  many  cases  the  resources  of 
the  individual  employer  would  not  prove  equal  to  the 
enormously  increased  liability,  and  that  therefore  the 
existence  of  the  employer  as  well  as  the  compensation  of 
the  injured  worker  would  be  jeopardized,  individual  re- 
sponsibility was  eliminated,  and  in  its  stead  was  placed 
the  collective  responsibility  of  the  industry. 

"3.  To  carry  out  this  idea  large  industries,  as  well 
as  agriculture,  commerce  and  crafts,  or  small  industries, 
were  organized  into  employers'  associations  grouped 
according  to  callings.  That  is,  legally  incorporated  self- 
governed  bodies  were  formed,  which  every  employer  was 
compelled  by  law  to  join.  The  miller  must  join  the 
Millers'  Employers'  Association,  the  teamster,  the  Em- 
ployers' Teaming  Association,  etc.  Upon  these  organ- 
izations was  placed  the  responsibility  of  carrying  and 
administering  the  accident  compensation  system,  and  to 
this  end  they  were  invested  with  far-reaching  legal  powers 
for  enforcing  their  rules,  raising  money,  etc. 


COMPENSATION   FOR  OCCUPATIONAL  ACCIDENTS  29 

^'4.  Accident  prevention,  being  of  greater  importance 
and  larger  social  value  than  compensation,  was  also 
placed  in  the  hands  of  these  employers'  associations,  with 
the  necessary  legal  authority  for  enforcement  of  rules. 

^'These  four  principles  of  our  system  have  proven 
their  strength  and  soundness. 

"The  majority  of  civilized  nations  have  approved  and 
copied  the  principle  of  making  claims  for  accident  com- 
pensation independent  from  the  proof  of  fault.  In 
Germany  no  one  wishes  to  return  to  the  conditions  which 
existed  under  the  old  liability  laws — to  the  innumerable 
disputes  concerning  degrees  of  fault,  which  often  experts 
could  not  determine,  and  which  made  a  damage  suit 
nothing  but  a  gamble.  As  proper  safeguards  against 
abuses  of  the  system  act,  the  restriction  of  maximum 
compensation  to  two-thirds  of  the  loss  caused  by  an  in- 
jury and  the  legal  authority  for  penalizing  employers 
as  well  as  workers  for  violation  of  safety  regulations — 
these  safeguards  are  considered  sufficient,  although  they 
might  possibly  be  widened  in  some  details. 

"The    principle   of    obligatory    insurance    which    was   obligatory 

^  Insurance 

opposed  SO  severely  for  a  long  while,  in  and  outside  of  Extending 
Germany,  has  been  accepted  now  almost  everywhere. 
It  was  a  memorable  event  when,  at  the  International 
Congress  for  Social  Insurance  in  Rome,  October  1908, 
Luzatti,  member  of  the  Italian  cabinet,  who  for  years 
had  been  the  most  energetic  champion  of  optional  insur- 
ance, acknowledged  himself  unreservedly  converted  to 
the  obligatory  principle,  and  Millerand,  member  of  the 
French  cabinet,  joined  him.  It  is  almost  generally  rec- 
ognized  now  that  only  obligatory  insurance  will  protect 


ao 


ACCIDENT    PREVENTION    AND   RELIEF 


Individual 
Employer 
Protected  by 
Organization 


Accident 
Prevention 
in  Germany 


workers,  and  at  the  same  time  safeguard  employers  from 
excess  liability.  i 

^^The  elimination  of  i  individual  liability  and  the 
organization  among  employers  have  proven  exceedingly 
fortuE^atevideas.  if  ^he  individual  employer  has  been  re- 
lieved of  constant  worry  about  his  very  •existence,  and 
the  employers'  associations  have,  according  to  the  testi- 
mony of  those  competent  to  judge,  proven  their  full 
ability  to  perform  the  great  task  which  was  placed  before 
them.  Only  the  expert  knowledge  of  the  practical  indus- 
trialist l  could  devise  such  equitable  standards  of  tax- 
ation in  .exact  keeping  with  hazard  as  have  been  estab- 
lished in  Germany,  and  the  fact  that  these,  at  times  rather 
hard  -Jburdens,  are  borne  without  a  murmur  by  the  em- 
ployers, is  due  to  the  knowledge  that  the  taxation  is 
levied  by  their  own  elected  trusted  officers,  and  not  by 
Outsiders.' 

"Similarly,  the  high  development  and  efficiency  of 
^accident  prevention,'  as  carried  out  by  German  em- 
ployers' associations,  are  the  result  of  combined  expert 
technical  and  economic  knowledge,  which  could  not  pos- 
sibly be  executed  in  equal  measure  either  by  govern- 
mental officers  or  by  employers  organized  according  to 
territory,  instead  of  being  organized  according  to  crafts. 

"The  exemplary  achievement  of  employers  in  the 
direction  of  caring  for  the  well-being  of  their  injured  and 
sick  workmen,  and  for  their  prompt  restoration  to  health, 
is  again  the  direct  result  of  the  present  type  of  organiza- 
.tion.  The  building  of  hospitals  and  dispensaries  far 
beyond  the  requirements  of  the  law,  and  the  stimulus  and 
systematic   direction   which   has   been   given   to    medical 


Workers' 
Objections 


COMPENSATION   FOR   OCCUPATIONAL   ACCIDENTS  31 

science  and  surgery  through  the  aid  of  these  employers' 
organizations,  could  never  have  been  exerted  through 
force  of  laws  or  any  other  agency. 

^^True,  there  are  attacks  of  various  kinds  on  the 
German  accident  insurance  system.  Workers  often  con- 
sider the  compensation  inadequate,  but  forget  that  al- 
lowance ratios  are  higher  in  Germany  than  in  all  other 
countries  which  have  adopted  the  compensation  system. 
Furthermore,  the  payment  of  a  compensation  rate,  fully 
equal  to  sustained  losses,  would  invite  dissimulation  and 
weaken  the  sense  of  personal  responsibility. 

^^Some  workers  take  exception  to  the  fact  that  they 
have  no  share  in  the  administration  of  the  accident  in- 
surance system.  They  forget  that  the  task  which  has 
been  placed  upon  the  employers'  association  requires  that 
they  must  have  the  right  to  govern  their  own  internal 
affairs,  and  that  the  interest  of  the  worker  is  properly  re- 
stricted to  co-operation  in  accident  prevention  and  re- 
ceipt of  legally  outlined  accident  compensation.  The 
workers  are  represented  in  the  commissions  which  draft 
legal  accident  prevention  regulations.  They  are  also 
represented  in  arbitration  courts  and  final  appeal  courts, 
where  all  disputed  claims  for  compensation  are  settled. 

''The  employers,  on  the  other  hand,  are,  as  a  general   gyg^e^ 

Af66ts    with 

rule,  satisfied  with  the  accident  insurance  system  as  ^^^^^^^ 
adopted  some  twenty-five  years  ago.  In  fact,  they  have 
accepted  the  heavy  personal  and  financial  burdens  of  the 
new  state  of  affairs  in  a  spirit  of  cheerfulness.  If,  of 
late,  there  is  a  change  here  and  there  in  this  sentiment,  it 
does  not  signify  opposition  to  the  original  measure,  but 
to  innovations  carried  out  later.     For  instance,  the  in- 


32  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND    RELIEF 

creased  taxation  for  reserve  funds  is  considered  excessive 
bj  a  great  many.  Recent  legislative  tendencies  to  restrict 
the  autonomy  of  the  associations  are  feared  and  opposed. 
"It  must  be  acknowledged  tliat  some  of  the  small  em- 
ployers are  groaning  under  the  insurance  burdens,  and 
it  is  worthy  of  consideration  whether  or  nbt,  for  some  of 
these  industries,  which  technically  do  not  differ  much 
from  each  other,  territorial  organization  instead  of 
organization  by  crafts  might  not  bring  about  greater 
economy  in  expenditures. 
Social  "Now  a  word  about  the  social  political  theorists.    For 

Theories  years  they  have  been  calling  for  unification  of  all  work- 

ers' insurance — accident,  sickness  and  invalidity — but 
they  have  not  been  able  to  give  more  than  a  semblance 
of  reason  for  such  change,  nor  have  they  been  able  to  con- 
struct a  unified  social  insurance  system  which  does  not 
materially  lessen  somewhere  the  benefits  of  the  present 
system.  A  noticeable  change  has  taken  place  in  public 
sentiment  as  well  as  in  scientific  theories  of  workers' 
insurance.  It  has  been  realized  that  the  various  branches 
of  workers'  insurance — sickness,  accident  and  invalidity — 
rest  upon  different  principles,  and  therefore  necessarily 
require  different  forms  of  organization.  It  follows  that 
it  is  better  to  let  each  branch  grow  according  to  its  own 
special  requirements,  than  to  bring  together  by  force  that 
which  does  not  belong  together. 

"The  bill,  which  is  at  the  present  time  before  the 
Reichstag,  does  not  restrict  the  independence  of  the  em- 
ployers' associations,  but  in  some  directions  it  makes 
dangerous  concessions  to  the  unification  scheme. 


COMPENSATION   FOR   OCCUPATIONAL  ACCIDENTS  33 

"Every   civilized   nation   must,   of   course,   adapt  its  system 

.  T       J    .  X  i       . ,  .  must  be 

accident  insurance  system  to  its  own  economic  and  social  Adapted 
conditions  and  to  the  characteristics  of  its  people,  but  Requtrements 
it  is  to  be  wished  that  the  insurance  legislation  of  every 
nation  may  succeed  in  strengthening  the  sense  of  social 
responsibility,    in    relieving   individual    distress    and   in 
maintaining  and  increasing  the  strength  and  efficiency 
of  the  nation  in  the  same  measure  in  which  the  German 
empire  has  succeeded,  thanks  to  the  accident  insurance 
reform  of  Emperor  William  I." 

A  Nummary  of  Recent  German  Figures 

The  following  general  facts  and  figures,  taken  from 
the  statistics  of  1908,  indicate  the  magnitude  of  Ger- 
many's accident  prevention  and  relief  system. 

Out  of  63,000,000  people  with  16,000,000  wage  workers,  statistics 

of  Germany's 

in  6,100,000  places  of  employment,  there  are  23,750,000  Relief 

System 

persons  insured  against  accidents. 

Benefits  amounting  to  |39,500,000  have  been  paid  dur- 
ing 1908  to  906,147  injured  workers,  81,198  widows,  4,192 
parents  and  109,757  children;  2,500,000  accidents  have 
been  compensated  with  $451,000,000  during  the  last  25 
years. 

The  first  year  of  the  accident  compensation  system 
was  1885. 

In  1885,  15,002  were  paid  in  pensions  for  268  cases  of 
injury. 

In  1890,  15,088,000  were  paid  in  pensions  for  100,251 
cases.  -  .  ' 


Becord  of 
New 
Accident 
Cases 


34  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND   RELIEF 

In  1895,  112,610,534  were  paid  in  pensions  for  318,368 
cases. 

In  1900,  121,838,000  were  paid  in  pensions  for  594,889 


cases. 


In  1905,  $34,036,928  were  paid  in  pensions  for  892,901 
cases.  * 

In  1908,  139,471,180  were  paid  in  pensions  for  1,008, 
677  cases. 

At  first  glance  tliis  terrific  growth  of  injury  cases 
and  compensation  seems  ruinous  to  a  nation  or  her 
industries.  But  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  annual 
pension  method  of  Germany  adds  the  new  cases  to  the 
old,  and  the  total  number  of  pensioners  will  grow  for  a 
number  of  years  to  come. 

The  record  of  7iew  accident  cases,  lasting  more  than 
thirteen  weeks,  during  the  twenty-five-year  period,  gives 
this  result : 

268  total  new  cases. 
42,038       " 
75,527       " 
107,654       " 


In  1885, 

In  1890, 

In  1895, 

In  1900, 

In  1905, 

In  1908, 


141,121 
142,965 


Summary  of  Facts  and  Figures  for  1908 

9,687  workers  were  killed;  1,072  workers  were  perma- 
nently and  completely  disabled;  56,806  workers  were  per- 
manently maimed;  73,584  workers  were  temporarily  dis- 
abled; 142,965  injuries  extended  over  13  weeks;  662,321 
is  the  total  number  of  injured  workers;  1,008,677  workers 


COMPENSATION   FOR   OCCUPATIONAL  ACCIDENTS  35 

received  pensions  to  the  amount  of  |39,500,000  for  occu- 
pational  injuries. 

One  Pension  for  Every  Sixty-three  Inhabitants 
Truly  these  are  tremendous  figures  which   might  be 
used  to  splendid  advantage  for  terrible  comparisons,  such 
as  we  are  accustomed  to  hearing  on  the  lecture  platform, 
and  to  seeing  in  some  newspapers.     How  small  looks  in  comparison 
comparison,  the  total  of  6,000  killed  and  wounded  in  the  Sie'in^wLf 
Spanish  and  Philippine  wars,  or  the  105,000  killed  and 
injured  soldiers  in  the  six  bloodiest  battles  of  our  Civil 
War,   or  even   the  500,000   killed  and  injured  workers, 
which  number  has  been  given  by  some  one  as  the  annual 
result  of  accidents  in  the  United  States.    But  this  report 
is  not  intended  as  a  work  of  fiction;  therefore,  we  will 
continue  to  consider  and  compare  facts  only. 

The  death  rate,  due  to  work  accidents,  has  increased  in 
Germany,  as  is  evident  from  Figure  6. 

FIGURE   6 
DEATHS    CAUSED    BY   OCCUPATIONAL   ACCIDENTS 


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36 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


But  the  total  number  of  deaths  due  to  occupational 
accidents  is  small  as  compared  with  other  causes,  as  shown 
in  Figure  7. 

FIGURE  7 
DEATH    CAUSES.      (STATISTICS    J9O5-07) 


SQ% 


Occupational  accidents  caused  in  1905-07  eight-tenths  of  one  per  cent 
of  the  total  number  of  deaths. 


Org-anization 
Receipts  and 
Expenditures 


Figure  8  will  bear  careful  study.  It  shows  organization 
receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  German  accident  insur- 
ance system.  One  of  the  most  interesting  things  it  points 
out  is  the  large  number  of  workers  not  covered  by  com- 
pulsory insurance  who  come  under  the  Act  voluntarily. 

It  seems  that  with  the  exception  of  one  and  a  half  or 
two  million  people  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits,  every 
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COMPENSATION   FOR  OCCUPATIONAL  ACCIDENTS  37 

is  now  insured,  either  by  compulsion  or  voluntarily.  We 
are  told  that  the  law  will  be  extended  in  the  near  future 
to  cover  all  those  engaged  in  mercantile  trades,  earning 
f750  per  annum  or  less. 

The  growth  of  workers'  accident  compensation  in  Ger-  Growth  of 
many  since  1885  is  illustrated  in  Figure  9.  cotrenLtion 

Germany  undertook  far-reaching  social  relief  by  legis-  '"^  ^^''"'^"y 
lation  and  insurance  on  a  very  large  basis,  far  ahead  of 
that  of  any  other  nation,  and  the  experiment  has  been 
watched  with  great  interest  at  home  and  abroad. 

The  great  internal  harmony  which  Prince  Bismarck 
considered  of  prime  importance  seems  not  to  have  been 
realized,  as  is  evident  from  many  of  the  letters  of  German 
manufacturers  contained  in  the  Appendix.     Dr.  Spiecker, 
a  leader  among  German  industrialists,  president  of  the 
Siemens  &  Halske  Co.,  and  chairman  of  the  League  of  Ger- 
man Employers'  Associations,  said,  during  a  recent  speech : 
^'It  is,  unfortunately,  true  that  the  first  object  of 
social  insurance,  which  was  to  bring  lasting  internal 
peace  to  our  citizens,  has  so  far  not  been  real- 
ized.   Nevertheless,  it  appears  lately  that  at  least  a 
small  ray  of  light  has  penetrated  the  darkness,  and 
that  there  is  little  realization  among  workers  of  the 
benefits  derived  from  our  soci  il  insurance.    On  the 
other  hand,  economically  and  industrially,  social  in- 
surance seems  to  have  benefited  Germany." 
Dr.   Kaufmann,  president  of  the  Imperial  Insurance 
Department,  and  the  highest  Government  official  connected 
with  German  social  insurance,  made  the  following  signifi- 
cant statement  to  us : 


38  ACCIDENT    PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 

^^Tlie  workers'  lives  preserved  mean  maintenance 
and  increase  of  our  national  resources  and  there- 
fore give  splendid  returns  for  the  heavy  financial 
burdens  which  social  insurance  places  upon  our  eco- 
nomic structure.  It  is  not  an  accident  that  the  un- 
precedented expansion  of  German  coiflmerce  and  in- 
dustry and  the  wonderful  improvement  in  the  eco- 
nomic welfare  of  the  nation  during  the  last  twenty 
years  have  happened  concurrently  with  thorough- 
going improvement  in  the  condition  of  our  workers. 
There  is  a  close  connection  between  the  two  events." 

progrress  of  A  Striking  illustration  of  the  progress  of  German  in- 

German 
Industries  dustrics  is  givcu  in  the  following  figures  taken  from  the 

statistics  of  the  employers'  associations  for  electrical  and 

mechanical  trades. 

During  twenty-three  years  there  has  been  an  increase 
in  manufacturing  concerns  from  1,062  to  6,536,  in  workers 
employed  from  44,337  to  238,345,  in  annual  pay  roll  from 
?9,000,000  to  180,000,000,  increase  of  average  wages  59 
per  cent. 

While  the  interest  of  German  employers  and  public 
officials  in  the  social  insurance  progress  of  other  countries 
is  without  doubt  based  primarily  on  considerations  of 
liumanity  and  good-will,  the  Germans  make  no  secret  of 
their  desire  to  have  tlieir  system  of  obligatory  social  insur- 
ance adopted  generally  in  all  civilized  countries.  They 
claim,  and  with  much  justice,  that  general  obligatory 
workers'  insurance  against  accidents,  sickness  and  invalid- 
ity, has  reduced  unfair  competition  in  Germany,  and  has 
brought  the  employers'  interests  together  in  many  desir- 
able ways.     It  has  made  it  impossible  for  the  selfish,  un- 


COMPENSATION    FOR   OCCUPATIONAL   ACCIDENTS  39 

scrupulous  or  inexperienced  employer  to  underbid  his 
humane,  conscientious  and  experienced  neighbor  by  giving 
less  consideration  to  the  health  and  well-being  of  his  em- 
ployes. Germany  would  like  to  carry  this  same  theory 
into  practice  with  the  employers  of  other  nations  for  the 
sake  of  international  competition. 

In  a  recent  publication  Prof.  Dr.  Hartmann,  the  best- 
known  technical  expert  on  accident  prevention  in  Germany 
and  one  of  the  highest  government  officials,  says : 

"Various  arguments  have  been  made  for  the  ex-  Germany 
hibition  of  the  German  national  insurance  system  Nations  to 
at  various  foreign  expositions.    It  was  said  that  call-  syst^em 
ing  attention  to  the  great  social  monument  which 
Germany  has  built  up  in  this  direction  must  surely 
increase  the  respect  of  the  world.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  was  argued  that  since  German  employers  are 
placed  under  heavy  burdens  on  account  of  their 
large   share   of   workers'   insurance   premiums,   it 
would  be  well  to  have  other  countries  know  and 
imitate  Germany's  system.    Foreign  countries  hav- 
ing to  carry  the  same  burden  would  make  the  ques- 
tion of  international  trade  easier  for  Germany." 
The  financial  burden  of  German  social  insurance  is 
best  expressed  in  a  quotation  from  Dr.  Kaufmann's  letter 
to  us.     He  says :    "From  your  studies  you  understand  in 
a  general  way  the  manifold  benefits  of  our  insurance  sys- 
tem.    Nevertheless,  I  want  to  call  attention  to  a  few  facts 
and  figures.     Up  to  December  1909,  the  complete  system 
(accident,  sickness  and  invalidity  insurance)  paid  f  1,925,- 
000,000  to  94,000,000  sick,  injured,  invalidated  workers 
and   their  dependents.     The   complete   system   pays   out 


40 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND   RELIEF 


daily  |475,000  and  has  accumulated  reserve  funds  amount- 
ing to  1540,000,000.  These  figures  give  an  indication  of 
the  economic  importance  of  social  insurance." 

Compensation  to  injured  workers  in  Germany  con- 
sists of: 

1.  Free  medical  attendance,  including  aaedicine,  sup- 
ports, crutches,  etc. 

2.  Pension  up  to  two-thirds  the  annual  wage  rate  for 
total  disability  and  in  proportion  for  partial  disability. 
For  the  first  13  weeks  this  pension  is  paid  out  of  the 
sickness  fund. 

3.  In  case  of  complete  helplessness  requiring  nurses 
or  attendants,  pension  up  to  100  per  cent  of  annual  wage 
rate  may  be  allowed. 

4.  Free  treatment  in  hospitals  or  sanitariums  and 
pension  of  60  per  cent  maximum  to  dependents.  Compen- 
sation continues  as  long  as  disability  continues,  but  is  sub- 
ject to  increase  or  decrease  in  proportion  to  increased  or 
decreased  earning  capacity  as  the  result  of  injury. 

5.  In  case  of  death  20  days'  wages,  but  not  less  than 
$12.50,  and  pension  to  dependents  (widows  or  widow- 
ers, children  under  15  years  of  age,  parents,  grand-parents 
or  grand-children)  amounting  to  not  more  than  60  per 
cent  of  annual  wages.  Three  hundred  times  average  daily 
wage  is  usually  considered  annual  wage. 


Deferred  Payments 

One  more  feature  of  the  German  system  needs  to  be 
explained  before  we  go  into  details.  It  is  the  lack  of 
providing  for  deferred  payments  in  the  accident  insurance 
scheme.     On  this  subject  the  sentiment  among  employers 


COMPENSATION   FOR   OCCUPATIONAL   ACCIDENTS  41 

is  almost  universal.  They  claim  that  even  with  its  ac- 
knowledged faults  this  feature  of  their  system  is  much 
superior  to  the  methods  used  elsewhere  of  attempting  to 
cover  such  deferred  payments.  They  say  that  neither 
twenty-five  years  ago,  when  Germany  started,  nor  now, 
are  there  statistics  available  upon  which  to  base,  with 
reasonable  certainty,  the  future  cost  of  accident  compensa- 
tion. They  feel  that  it  would  be  a  most  serious  mistake 
to  tie  up  the  billions  of  dollars  required  to  cover  any  rea- 
sonable estimate  of  deferred  payments,  and  think  that  the 
withdrawal  of  such  sums  Avould  do  much  more  harm  to 
German  industrial  development,  which  now  needs  all  the 
available  cash  in  the  country,  than  any  harm  that  can 
possibly  come  to  future  industries  which  necessarily  will 
have  to  start  under  a  heavier  financial  burden  due  to  con- 
stantly increasing  insurance  premiums.  They  feel  that 
such  heavier  burden  is  more  than  outw^eighed  by  the 
strenuous  pioneer  work  which  had  to  be  done  by  the 
German  industries  at  the  beginning,  and  which  must  be 
done  even  now.  How'ever,  deferred  payments  are  not  Reserve 
altogether  disregarded.  All  employers'  associations  are  be"ing^ 
establishing  reserve  funds  at  increasing  percentages.  Of 
last  year's  premiums  9  per  cent  w^as  laid  aside  for  reserve 
to  cover  deferred  payments.  Furthermore,  some  em- 
ployers' associations — for  instance,  the  Excavating  Con- 
tractors' Association — covered  the  whole  of  the  deferred 
payments  because  the  nature  of  their  w^ork  and  their  mem- 
bership are  not  as  permanent  and  steady  as  those  of  other 
crafts. 


Formed 


CHAPTER   THREE 

Detail  Description  or  Some  or  the  Important  Features  of  tLe 
German  System — Emciency,  Prompt  and  Proper 
Medical  Aid,   tlie  *'  Doctor  Question," 
tLe  Contributory  Principle 


CHAPTER  III 

Detail  Description  of  Some  of  the  Important  Features 

OF  THE  German  System— Efficiency,  Prompt  and 

Proper  Medical  Aid,  the  '^Doctor  Question," 

THE  Contributory  Principle 

We  have  pointed  out  that  wastefulness  is  one  of  the  wastefulness 

a  Serious 

serious  faults  of  our  present  employers'  liability  system.  Fault  m 

,     .      Present 

If  we  were  to  consider  the  subjects  according  to  their  systems 
importance,  we  would  place  the  lack  of  general  accident 
prevention  activity  and  antagonism  to  harmonious  rela- 
tions ahead  of  efficiency,  but  for  technical  reasons  we 
shall  consider  these  subjects  later  on. 

Practically  all  accident  insurance  in  Germany  is  of  the 
mutual  kind.  Accident  insurance  institutions  are  em- 
ployers' associations  organized  according  to  trades  or 
crafts  for  the  purpose  of  carrying,  mutually  and  col- 
lectively, their  workers'  accident  compensation  risk.  Under 
the  German  law  every  employer  must  belong  to  the  or- 
ganization of  his  craft  and  to  these  employers'  associa- 
tions is  given  the  necessary  legal  power  to  enforce  acci- 
dent prevention  and  insurance  rules,  not  only  upon  the 
employer  but  also  upon  the  worker.  For  violation  of  rules 
the  employer  can  be  fined  |250  for  each  offense,  and 
in  addition  his  accident  insurance  rates  can  be  increased. 
A  worker  can  be  fined  |2.50  for  each  violation  and  there 
is  now  a  measure  before  the  Reichstag  which  would  make 

45 


46 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


The  German 

Government'! 

Attitude 

Respecting 

Employers 


willful  and  serious  destruction  of  safety  appliances  a  pen- 
itentiary offense.  The  whole  administration  of  the  com- 
pensation law  has  really  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
united  employers,  always,  of  course,  under  the  supervis- 
ing control  of  the  state,  through  the  Imperial  Insurance 
Department.  • 

It  practically  amounts  to  this.  Germany  says  to  her 
employers : 

"The  interest  of  the  state  demands  the  good  citizen- 
ship and  highest  efficiency  of  every  worker.  Good  citizen- 
ship and  efficiency  are  dependent  upon  mental  and  phys- 
ical welfare.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  state  to  reduce  to  the 
smallest  possible  degree  all  dangers  to  the  workers'  well- 
being.  Occupational  accidents  are  a  large  factor  in  this 
direction.  We  must  prevent  accidents  and  use  all  pos- 
sible force  and  ingenuity  in  that  direction.  For  unpre- 
ventable  accidents  we  must  compensate  the  injured 
workers  and  their  dependents.  The  public  must  pay  for 
this  compensation,  but  instead  of  levying  a  general  tax 
we  make  it  your  duty  to  collect  this  compensation  from  the 
public  by  adding  to  the  price  of  your  products.  In  order 
that  there  can  be  no  unfair  advantage,  we  compel  every 
employer  to  pay  his  share  toward  proper  insurance  of  his 
workers.  We  must  be  just  to  the  workers,  but  also  just 
to  the  employers.  The  employers  must  not  be  unneces- 
sarily burdened.  We  must  have  a  system  which  gives 
high  efficiency  in  the  industries  and  also  high  state  effi- 
ciency. Our  incapacitated  workers  must  be  taken  care 
of  in  proportion  to  their  decreased  earning  power,  but  we 
must  avoid  anything  that  will  have  a  tendency  to  place 
premiums   upon   laziness,   dissimulation,   imagination    or 


13 


0^ 

D 

a 


u 

D 

CO 

Z 

o 

1 

o 
u 

H 

z 

Q 

O 
U 

z 

o 

O 
U 

z 
u 

g3 


N 


12  9  P 


FEATURES   OF   THE   GERMAN    SYSTEM  47 

poverty.  Every  individual's  reasonable  work  is  required 
for  the  good  of  the  nation,  and  to  this  end  it  is  important 
that  an  injured  worker  be  restored  as  promptly  and  as 
efficiently  as  possible  from  the  position  of  a  consuming 
member  to  the  position  of  a  producing  member  of  soci- 
ety. Go  ahead,  you  employers,  get  together!  Elect  your 
own  officers,  adopt  your  OAvn  rule's  and  regulations,  elimi- 
nate waste,  friction  and  red  tape.  Get  down  to  business 
and  get  results.  The  less  waste  you  have,  the  fewer  ac- 
cidents you  have,  the  less  you  will  have  to  pay  for  insur- 
ance and  the  less  the  nation  will  have  to  pay  for  com- 
pensation." 

We  shall  point  out  how  the  employers  have  made  good.  High 

EfficiGncv 

The  ability  and  the  energy  of  the  men  who,  as  elected  of  the 

1  -I    German 

officers  of  employers'  associations  without  pay,  have  served  system 
their  crafts  and  their  country,  have  created  in  twenty-five 
years  a  social  insurance  structure  of  which  the  nation  is 
proud,  and  rightly  so. 

The  total  cost  of  litigation  under  the  German  system 
is  only  1.2  per  cent  of  the  total  amount  of  insurance 
expenditures,  and  the  total  efficiency  of  the  insurance 
system  is  remarkably  high.  It  is  said,  by  well  informed 
persons,  that  of  the  money  paid  by  employers  for  liability 
insurance  in  the  United  States  only  from  20  to  40  per 
cent  reaches  the  injured  workers. 

Figures  10  and  11  indicate  the  efficiency  of  the  Ger- 
man system  of  compensation  for  occupational  accidents. 
Figure  10  analyzes  the  total  cost,  while  figure  11  analyzes 
the  detail  expenditures  which  are  carried  under  the  Ad- 
ministration  item  of  12.8  per  cent  in  Figure  10. 


48 


ACCIDENT    PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 


Reasons   for 
Low  cost  of 
German 
System 


The  term  "administration  expense^'  is  often  used  very 
ambiguously.  Not  often  is  it  construed  as  definitely  as  we 
cover  it  here,  that  is,  as  meaniug  every  expenditure  which 
cannot  be  charged  to  compensation  or  to  reserve  fund. 
Medical  attention  for  injured  workers  is  considered  part 
of  the  compensation,  the  same  as  hospital  ^expenses.  This 
item  amounts  to  1.5  i)er  cent  of  the  total  sum. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  such  a  high  point  of  ef- 
ficiency can  hardly  be  attained  under  any  other  system. 

1. — Because  employers'  associations  carry  accident 
insurance  on  a  mutual  basis  and  need  make  no  profits  for 
stockholders,  nor  do  they  pay  commissions  of  any  kind  to 
solicitors. 

2. — They  are  headed  by  employers  of  high  stand- 
ing and  much  experience,  who  devote  their  time  and  in- 
telligence to  the  good  cause  without  pay. 

3. — Because  prevention  is  encouraged  under  this 
system.  Insurance  rates  are  always  based  by  expert  ad- 
justers upon  the  hazard  of  each  individual  shop,  making 
due  allowance  for  the  money  and  energy  spent  in  acci- 
dent prevention  appliances,  somewhat  on  the  lines  of  our 
mutual  fire  insurance  companies. 

There  is  an  additional  reason  for  the  comparatively 
low  cost  of  the  German  system.  Much  of  the  expense  of 
the  Government  Insurance  Department  is  paid  out  of  gen- 
eral government  funds.  Prof.  Dr.  Manes,  one  of  the  best 
European  experts  on  this  subject,  whose  guidance  has 
been  of  very  great  value  to  us,  estimates  that  if  all  the  ex- 
pense of  the  Government  Insurance  Office  was  charged  to 
the  system  it  would  raise  the  administration  expenses  3 
to  4  per  cent.     On  the  other  hand,  it  is  figured  that  this 


FEATURES   OF   THE   GERMAN   SYSTEM  49 

expenditure,  which  might  well  be  considered  a  govern- 
ment contribution  to  the  workers'  compensation  fund,  is 
perfectly  legitimate  because  the  beneficial  results  of 
workers'  insurance  upon  charitable  institutions,  poor- 
houses,  etc.,  which  must  be  kept  up  by  the  state  or  cities, 
warrant  this  government  contribution.  AYliile  we  are 
here  discussing,  primarily,  relief  for  occupational  acci- 
dents, it  is  illuminating  and  proper  to  say  a  word  about 
the  extent,  efficiency  and  desirability  of  the  whole  social 
insurance  system — sickness,  accident  and  invalidity.  The 
whole  system  is  mutual  and  contributory.  That  is,  the 
state,  employers  and  workers  each  pay  part  of  the  main- 
tenance expenses.  A  study  of  Figures  12  and  13  brings 
out  the  fact  that  workers  pay  40  per  cent  of  the  cost  and 
receive  72  per  cent  of  the  total  funds  gathered. 

Under  the  heading  "Efficiency'^  we  should  consider  the 
justice  and  policy  of  lump  sum  payments  vs.  pensions. 
The  advantage  of  weekly  pensions  for  injured  workers  weekly 

.       Payments    to 

or  dependents  as  compared  with  lump  sum  payments  is  workers 
so  thoroughly  fixed  in  the  minds  of  German  theoretical  BesrMeThod 
and  practical  experts,  that  it  is  impossible  to  find  a  single 
advocate  of  lump  sum  payments.  These  experts  point  out 
that  accident  compensation  to  injured  workers  is  intended 
as  payment  of  a  debt  by  the  public,  through  the  agency 
of  the  employer,  to  persons  hurt  while  directly  or  indirectly 
serving  the  public.  Therefore,  the  injured  person  is,  or  his 
dependents  are,  entitled  only  to  conditions  similar  to 
those  which  were  disturbed  by  the  injury.  To  place  in  their 
hands,  accustomed  only  to  the  handling  of  weekly  wages, 
large  sums,  usually  does  more  harm  than  good.  It  is  th(? 
duty  of  the  public  to  demand,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the 


50 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Necessity  of 
Immediate 
Medical 
Attention 


Savings 
FJfEected  by- 
Specialized 
Medical 
Systems 


injured  or  his  dependents  to  guarantee,  no  further  de- 
pendency upon  public  charity  in  return  for  compensation. 

Probably  the  most  important  requirement  in  the  di- 
rection of  efficiency  is  prompt  and  proper  medical  aid. 
Authorities  all  agree,  and  are  very  emphatic  on  the  point, 
that  immediate  attention  to  all  injuries  sAves  much  suf- 
fering, many  lives  and  limbs,  and  a  great  deal  of  money. 
This  principle  has  been  recognized  by  progressive  em- 
ployers and  insurance  companies  in  the  United  States, 
but  prompt  relief  is  still  lacking  in  too  many  instances. 
It  would  seem  almost  impossible  to  have  relief  extended 
more  promptly  and  more  systematically  than  it  comes  for- 
ward in  Germany. 

Under  the  German  laws  every  injured  worker  and 
his  dependents  are  taken  care  of  automatically  and  im- 
mediately after  the  occurrence  of  an  accident.  The  first 
thirteen  weeks  medical  attendance  and  compensation  are 
provided  out  of  the  Sickness  Insurance  Fund.  Beginning 
with  the  fourteenth  week  it  is  provided  out  of  the  Ac- 
cident Insurance  Fund. 

Ma*ny  German  employers'  associations  have  volun- 
tarily established  dispensaries  and  hospitals:,  and  insist, 
as  they  have  a  right  to  under  the  law,  upon  having  in- 
jured employes  treated  free  of  charge.  Every  injury, 
even  a  slight  one,  is  examined  and  treated  by  medical 
specialists.  They  have  learned  that  a  most  thorough  and 
specialized  medical  system  is  a  splendid  precaution  against 
more  serious  harm. 

A  recent  special  volume  on  this  subject,  written  for 
the  Berlin  celebration,  devotes  pages  to  specific  cases,  il- 
lustrating  the   tremendous    saving   that   can    be    accom- 


FEATURES   OF   THE   GERMAN   SYSTEM  51 

plished  in  this  direction.  Let  us  quote  one  or  tAvo  il- 
lustrations. The  Bavarian  Building  Industries  Em- 
ployers' Association  established,  to  its  own  satisfaction, 
that  the  expenditure  of  approximately  |8,000  in  prompt 
and  expert  medical  attention  to  its  injured  workmen, 
saved  approximately  |160,000  in  compensation  expenses. 
A  Vienna  insurance  institution  figured  the  net  savings 
in  compensation  due  to  the  establishment  of  an  ambu- 
lance and  first  aid  medical  station  to  be  |27,000  in  nine 
months. 

An  engine  driver  35  years  old  was  scalded  during  a 
wreck.  The  attending  general  physician  thought  the  am- 
putation of  the  left  arm  necessary.  The  employers'  as- 
sociation succeeded,  through  specialists'  treatment  at  its 
own  hospital,  in  saving  the  arm  and  bringing  it  back  to 
normal  strength.  At  the  time  of  accident  the  driver 
earned  |330  per  annum — a  few  years  later  |425  per  an- 
num, which  proves  that  his  earning  capacity  was  un- 
impaired. The  amputation  of  the  arm  would  have  meant 
a  cripple  with  less  than  half  earning  capacity  and  a  life 
compensation  of  |150  annually,  equal  to  |8,000  or  |10,000 
total  expense  to  the  Employers'  Mutual  Insurance  Asso- 
ciation. We  might  quote  fifty  similar  cases  showing  the 
wonderful  results  of  conserving  the  best  resources  of  the 
nation,  the  self-respect  and  earning  capacity  of  her  work- 
ers, by  means  of  prompt  and  proper  medical  attention. 

There  is  another  phase  of  efficiency  in  which  prompt  Prevention  of 

^  Imposition 

medical  attention  by  experienced  doctors  with  special  ac-  and  imaginary 

•^         ^  .  Ailments 

cident  training  is  of  immeasureable  value — in  prevention 
of  simulation  and  imaginary  ailments.  Up  to  the  present 
time  German  prevention  experts  have  concentrated  their 


52 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 


energy  upon  serious  accidents,  and  in  a  later  chapter 
we  shall  point  out  that  their  efforts  have  been  successful. 
But  the  number  of  light  accidents  is  increasing  rapidly. 
A  study  of  Figure  14  shows  that  21.5  per  cent  of  all  ac- 
cidents are  of  a  duration  of  more  than  13  weeks,  while 
78.5  per  cent  are  of  a  duration  less  than  13«sveeks. 


FIGURE   14 

DURATION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  INJURIES 

0% 


50% 


Ratio  of 
Light  to 
Serious 
Accidents 


In  point  of  cost  statistics  show  that  approximately  75 
per  cent  of  the  total  funds  expended  for  accident  compen- 
sation and  prevention  must  be  charged  to  the  21.5  per 
cent  of  the  accidents  lasting  more  than  13  weeks,  while 
only  about  25  per  cent  of  the  expenditures  can  be  charged 
against  the  78.5  per  cent  of  accidents  lasting  less  than 


FEATURES   OF   THE   GERMAN   SYSTEM  53 

13  weeks.  This  shows  the  importance  of  preventing  seri- 
ous accidents.  Nevertheless  the  rapid  growth  in  the  num- 
ber  of  light  accidents  and  the  serious  part  which  simula- 
tion and  imagination  play  in  this  growth,  have  resulted 
in  the  concentrated  effort  of  German  experts  to  reduce 
the  number  of  such  accidents. 

It  is  pointed  out  that  the  careful  attention  which  is  Medical 

,  ,.,....  ,  .,  Attendant 

now  given  to  slight  injuries  enlarges  the  workers'  ideas  should  be 
of  their  importance.  This,  and  the  fact  that  he  knows 
pensioners  among  his  acquaintances  who  receive,  regu- 
larly, payments  for  past  injury,  act  as  powerful  mental 
suggestion  and  promote  simulation  as  well  as  imaginary 
ailments.  A  Swiss  medical  specialist,  in  discussing  this 
subject,  says :  "To  me  it  is  a  final  conclusion  that  in  cases 
of  accident  the  efficiency  of  the  medical  attendant  is  in 
direct  proportion  to  his  special  training  for  such  work. 
Simulation,  which  usually  begins  very  soon  after  an  ac- 
cident, is  much  strengthened  by  uncertain  action  and  lack 
of  understanding  on  the  part  of  the  attending  physician. 
No  argument,  threat  or  fear  of  penalty  will  succeed  in 
eliminating  simulation  or  imagination  later  on  if  im- 
proper attitude  of  the  attending  doctor  immediately  fol- 
lowing the  accident  has  allowed  them  to  take  root."  It 
is  generally  admitted  among  German  experts  that  simu-  imposition 
lation  and  imagination  are  the  most  serious  drawbacks  Advancement 
to  the  progress  of  scientific  accident  compensation.  Not  • 
one  of  these  experts  admits  that  the  "German  system"  is 
more  susceptible  to  deception  than  any  other  system  so 
far  known.  In  fact,  it  is  claimed  that  these  drawbacks 
are  inherent  to  any  kind  of  insurance.  Germans  point  to 
the  growth  of  fraudulent  claims  in  fire,  life  and  sickness 


5 J:  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND   RELIEF 

insurance,  and  say  there  will  be  such  fraud  as  long  as 
there  are  human  beings.  The  temptation  to  secure  some- 
thing for  nothing  has  proven  too  strong  for  many  a  per- 
son who  seemed  honest  under  normal  conditions.  But 
Germans  do  not  stop  at  philosophizing.  The  various  em- 
ployers' associations  have  taken  steps  to  reduce  simula- 
tion and  imagination  to  the  smallest  possible  degree,  and 
they  say  that  next  to  close  personal  contact  between  the 
officials  of  the  insurance  and  prevention  system,  immediate 
and  proper  medical  attention  by  the  associations'  medical 
expert  is  the  most  important  factor. 
The  "Doctor  The  "doctor  question,"  as  it  is  generally  known  all 

over  the  Continent,  has  become  a  most  important  factor 
internationally  in  workingmen's  accident  compensation. 
At  a  recent  international  conference  at  The  Hague  almost 
three-fourths  of  the  time  was  devoted  to  this  question,  one 
element  advocating  the  selection  of  doctors  by  the  insurer 
(usually  the  employer)  and  the  other  advocating  the  selec- 
tion by  the  injured  workman.  The  latter  proposition  was 
rejected  by  a  large  majority  of  the  international  delegates. 
France  seems  to  have  had  especially  bad  experience  in 
cases  where  the  injured  workman  selects  his  own  doctor. 
It  is  stated  that  the  special  expert  training  which  efficient 
accident  medical  experts  must  have,  is  not  possessed  by 
the  ordinary  physician,  and  it  is  openly  charged  that  col- 
lusion between  injured  workmen  and  unscrupulous  med- 
ical men  has  very  much  increased  simulation,  and  has 
established  a  certain  class  of  ambulance-chasing  doctors. 

The  tendency  toward  simulation  requires  a  long  wait- 
ing period  for  injured  workers.    The  German  system  gives 


FEATURES   OF   THE   GERMAN   SYSTEM  55 

unusual  advantage  in  this  direction  because  the  injured 
receives  relief  from  siclvuess  insurance  funds  during  the 
first  thirteen  weeks. 

The   co-operation   of  wage  workers   Is  an   important  workers* 

Co-operation 

phase  in  the  direction  of  efficiency  and  elimination  of  Needed 
simulation.     Germany  recognized  that  it  would  be  unjust 
and  unwise  to  penalize  the  fair  and  progressive  employer 
or  worker  for  the  acts  of  the  reactionary  or  lazy  members 
of  the  craft. 

The  causes  of  all  accidents  can  be  summed  up  under  causes  of 

Accidents 

four  heads.  They  are  due  to  employer's  fault,  to  worker's 
fault,  to  the  combined  fault  of  the  two,  or  to  the  hazard 
of  the  occupation.  Figures  15  and  16  picture  responsi- 
bility for  industrial  and  agricultural  accidents. 

The  principle  of  compensating  the  workers  for  acci- 
dents due  to  the  hazard  of  the  industry  or  to  the  em- 
ployer's fault  is  sound,  but  the  principle  of  paying  the 
injured  worker  for  accidents  due  to  his  own  fault  is  neither 
sound  nor  reasonable.  He  should  be  given  the  benefit  of 
the  most  liberal  treatment,  but  without  his  co-operation 
and  contribution  we  cannot  hope  to  progress  as  rapidly 
in  many  directions,  and  especially  in  the  direction  of 
prevention,  as  we  should. 

Mr.  Louis  Brandeis  in  discussing  workers'  contribution  ^  L^wyet^s 
"from  the  standpoint  of  the  lawyer,"  in  the  splendid  little  ^I'^^^^j^l^t^^y 
booklet  distributed  by  the  Ridgway  Company,  says: 

"The  funds  required  to  make  compensation 
should  be  raised  by  contribution  from  both  employer 
and  employe,  preferably  in  equal  shares,  and  pro- 
portionately to  wages. 


56 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Equitable 
Adjustment  of 
Contribution 
and 
Compensation 


"No  system  can  be  effective  in  preventing  acci- 
dents which  is  not  of  a  nature  to  secure  the  fullest 
co-operation  of  employer  and  employe;  and  none  can 
be  just  which  does  not  place  the  burden  of  making 
compensation  for  accidents  actually  occurring  joint- 
ly upon  those  who  jointly  had  the  responsibility  of 
preventing  them. 

"The  compensation  should  be  fairly  commensu- 
rate with  the  loss.    It  should  extend  to  the  protec- 
tion   of    the    dependent    widow    and  children.     It 
should  be  made  not  in  a  lump  sum  but  in  install- 
ments continuing  throughout  the  period  of  need. 
It   should   so   far   as   possible   be   definite   in   the 
amounts  to  be  paid,  and  should  bear  a  just  relation 
to  the  amounts  contributed." 
The  argument  is  often  made  that  even  if  the  employer 
pays  the  whole  compensation,  the  worker  contributes,  first, 
through    his    physical    suffering    while    injured;    second, 
through   the   rate   of   compensation   which   is   materially 
lower  than  the  employe's  regular  income  while  at  work. 
Several  national  systems  have  been  adopted  on  this  theory 
but  it  looks  like  greater  wisdom  and  better  policy  to  se- 
cure  the   worker's    financial    contribution    and   co-opera- 
tion while  he  is  well  and  to  pay  him  the  full  equivalent  of 
his  lost  earning  capacity  while  injured. 

This  is  the  theory  of  the  German  system.  Sixty-six 
per  cent  of  the  annual  wage  rate  (300  days'  full  wages), 
which  is  ordinarily  the  highest  compensation  paid,  is  con- 
sidered the  full  equivalent  for  complete  disability,  on  the 
theory  that  the  ordinary  lay-offs,  expenses  of  tools,  work- 


FEATURES    OF   THE   GERMAN   SYSTEM  57 

ing  clothes,  car  fare,  etc.,  while  at  work  consume  one-third 
of  this  annual  wage  rate. 

Kecognizing  the  necessity  of  the  worker's  co-operation,  Proportion  of 

^_         _,  i  ,  w  -,  Compensation     \ 

the  German  system  places  17  per  cent  of  the  total  acci-  Bome  by  ) 

Workers         f^^ 

dent  insurance  cost  upon  the  workers. 

Figure  17,  which  has  been  prepared  under  Prof.  Manes' 
supervision,  illustrates  this  contribution.  Several  other 
experts  figure  that  the  workers'  contribution  is  less,  but 
the  definite  amount  matters  very  little  here.  It  is  the 
principle  w^hich  is  important.  The  contributory  principle 
in  the  accident  insurance  system  of  Germany  is  carried 
into  practice  in  a  way  which  is  sometimes  misunderstood. 
The  statement  is  sometimes  made  in  this  country  that 
the  workers  do  not  contribute  in  Germany.  This  is  er- 
roneous. Up  to  the  14th  week  the  injured  worker  re- 
ceives his  compensation,  including  medical  attention, 
through  the  sick  insurance  fund.  Sick  insurance  is  ob- 
ligatory the  same  as  accident  insurance,  and  is  paid  for 
two-thirds  by  the  worker,  one-third  by  the  employer.  J 

An  important  feature  of  joint  contribution  is  the  fact  joint 

^  Contribution 

that  it  opens  the  way  for  meetings  between  workers  and  Fosters 

^  ^  Harmonious 

employers.     It  establishes  a  connecting  link  which,  ac-   Relations 

^      '^  Between 

cording  to  the  experience  of  European,  as  well  as  Amer-  Employers 
ican  manufacturers,  is  of  invaluable  service  in  fostering 
harmonious  relations  between  employers  and  workers. 

The  contributory  principle  is  carried  into  practice  in 
Germany  not  only  in  accident  insurance,  but  in  all  social 
insurance,  as  shown  in  Figure  13  (insert  p.  49).  Workers' 
contribution  is  recognized  as  just  and  important  in  the 
Swiss  bill,  which  is  expected  to  become  a  law  during  this 


58 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Workers' 

Contribution 

Endorsed 

by  most 

German 

Authorities 


Representative 
Powers  of 
Contributors 


session  of  the  Swiss  Parliament.  The  bill  also  recognizes 
the  propriety  of  government  contribution  to  the  accident 
compensation  fund.  The  relative  contributions  from  the 
three  parties  which  is  planned  in  this  Swiss  bill  is  showr 
in  Figure  18.  Swiss  government  insurance  officials  im 
pressed  us  as  being  extraordinarily  expert,  even  among 
the  great  specialists  of  Europe. 

The  Swiss  bill  is  based  upon  the  experience  of  othei 
progressive  nations.  It  proposes  to  cover  all  accidents 
those  occurring  away  from  work  as  well  as  those  occur- 
ring at  work. 

The  advisability  of  workers'  contribution  to  accideni 
insurance  funds,  while  questioned  by  a  few,  is  recognizee 
and  endorsed  by  the  large  majority  of  German  author 
ities  and  the  efficiency  of  accident  prevention,  as  wel 
as  the  elimination  of  simulation  and  imaginary  ailments 
according  to  these  authorities,  is  dependent  to  a  verj 
large  extent  upon  workers'  contribution.  The  extent  tc 
which  the  contributory  principle  is  carried  out  in  various 
European  countries  is  evident  from  a  study  of  Figure  4 
page  14. 

Another  phase  of  the  contributory  principle  as  prac 
ticed  in  Germany  needs  exposition  here.  Contribution  oi 
taxation  means  representation.  German  workers  paying 
17  per  cent  of  the  accident  compensation  fund  in  return 
have  representation  (by  election)  in  the  arbitration 
courts,  the  appeal  courts  and  the  commissions  which 
draft  accident  prevention  regulations.  Workers  have  nc 
voice  in  the  administration  or  management  of  the  com- 
pensation funds.  Socialistic  labor  leaders  have  been  con- 
testing for  such  representation  for  the  political  and  other 


FEATURES    OF   THE    GERMAN   SYSTEM  59 

influence  it  gives  them  over  the  working  class.  Rather 
than  give  this  representation  German  employers  would 
pay  the  whole  premium. 

Sickness   insurance,   of  which  the  workers  pay  two-  socialists 
thirds  and  the  employers  one-third,  is  almost  entirely  in  suTkneL 
the  hands  of  Socialistic  labor  leaders.    This  control  is  so  1"^"^^"^^ 
obnoxious  to  the  government  and  to  the  majority  of  the 
employers  that  a  larger  contribution  (50  per  cent  instead 
of  33  per  cent)  and  a  proportionately  larger  percentage  of 
representation  is  planned  for  the  employers  now. 


^ 


CHAPTER   FOUR 

Obligatory  Insurance  an  Important  Factor  m  A.ccident 

Compensation — Various  Forms  of  Insurance, 

Mutual  Insurance,  Statistics,  Scientific 

Inspection,  Litigation 


I 


CHAPTER  IV 

Obligatory  Insurancp]  an  Important  Factor  in  Acci- 
dent Compensation — Various  Forms  of  Insur- 
ance, Mutual  Insurance,   Statistics^ 
Scientific  Inspection,  Litigation 

Many  European  nations,  and  among  them  Germany,  insurance 

the  best 

long  ago  learned  that  the  creation  of  a  right  of  recovery  Guarantee 

of 

which  cannot  be  realized  is  of  no  practical  value,  and  that  compensation 
insurance  alone  can  guarantee  compensation  to  all  injured 
workers,  without  respect  to  the  financial  responsibility 
of  the  employers.  The  conditions  created  by  the  injury 
of  a  wage  earner  whose  family  is  dependent  upon  his  sup- 
port are  no  different  whether  he  works  for  the  largest  cor- 
poration or  the  smallest  individual  employer. 

The  small  employer  is  a  much  more  serious  factor  in 
f  this  problem  than  is  generally  understood.     In  many  of 
our  interviews  with  large  and  small  employers  in  Ger- 
many, and  in  many  of  tlie  letters,  numbering  one  hundred 

or  more,  which  we  have  received  from  presidents  of  Ger- 
es 


64 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Average 
Ratio   of 
Employers    to 
Workers 


The  Small 
Employer 
a    Prominent 
Factor 


man  employers'  associations,  the  importance  of  provid- 
ing for  the  small  employer  and  his  one,  two  or  three 
workers,  is  emphasized. 

The  latest  estimate  indicates  that  in  Germany  66  in- 
dnstrial  employers'  associations  cover  696,824  employers 
with  7,868,531  workers,  making  an  average  number  of 
workers  per  employer  of  11;  while  45  agricultural  em- 
ployers' associations  cover  5,434,000  employers  with  some 
17,000,000  workers.  Average  number  of  workers  per  em- 
ployer, 3.  Several  authorities  have  given  it  as  their  opin- 
ion that  more  than  50  per  cent  of  the  w^age  workers  of 
the  country  are  employed  in  small  places,  w^here  an  ac- 
cident verdict  of  from  |5,000  to  |10,000  would  mean 
bankruptcy  to  the  employer,  and,  as  a  consequence,  loss 
of  part  or  all  compensation  to  the  injured  worker. 

Our  attention  has  been  called  to  the  fact  that  before 
the  inauguration  of  the  present  system  even  the  cost  and 
worry  of  law  suits  for  accident  compensation  proved  dis- 
turbing, and  oftentimes  destroying,  factors  to  the  small 
employer.  Destruction  of  the  small  employer  usually 
means  no  compensation  for  the  injured  worker,  leaving 
him  and  his  dependents  charges  upon  the  community.  For 
this  reason,  the  German  system  does  not  place  the  bur- 
den of  compensation  upon  the  individual  employer.  It 
places  it  upon  the  industry,  that  is,  upon  all  employers 
of  each  industry.  For  illustration:  All  the  flour  mills 
of  Germany  must  contribute  toward  a  fund,  out  of  which 
is  paid  a  fixed  compensation  for  each  flour  mill  accident. 
The  oriGjinators  of  the  German  s^^stem  reasoned  that  only 


VARIOUS  FORMS  OF  INSURANCE  65 

by  universal  and  collective  action  could  lasting  beneficent  Extended 

...  1        Ti  ^  -,  Collective 

results  be  secured.    It  would  not  do  to  cover  only  certain  Action  most 

.      -,       ,    .  i     .        ,         ,.    .  Beneficial 

industries  or  certain  localities.  The  system  must  cover 
practically  every  employer  and  every  wage  worker  in 
every  part  of  the  country,  and  the  individual  financial 
responsibility  of  the  employer  must  be  entirely  eliminated 
from  the  system. 

This,  of  course,  means  compulsory  insurance.  Under 
the  German  law  every  employer  must  belong  to  the  organi- 
zation of  his  craft,  and  to  these  employers'  associations 
is  given  the  necessary  legal  power  to  raise  funds  based 
upon  the  hazard  of  the  industry,  as  well  as  the  prevention 
efforts  of  each  particular  shop.  Assessments  are  made  by 
carefully  trained  scientific  boards  of  experts,  much  the 
same  as  in  our  mutual  fire  insurance  companies. 

Many  countries  have  adopted  the  compulsory  insur-  Growth  of 

Compulsory 

ance  plan,  as  may  be  seen  at  a  glance  from  Figure  3,  insurance 
page  13.  The  sentiment  in  favor  of  such  a  system  is 
spreading  rapidly.  Most  countries  give  the  employer  the 
privilege  of  insuring  either  in  mutual  companies,  stock 
companies  or  state  institutions.  Germany  and  Austria 
compel  insurance  in  mutual  concerns.  Experts  in  these 
countries  have  told  us  that  no  other  compensation  insur- 
ance would  work  satisfactorily.  We  are  by  no  means 
going  to  this  extreme,  but  we  feel  that  the  better  in-  . 
formed  an  employer  is  on  compensation  insurance  de- 
tails, the  better  will  be  the  result.  Close  co-operation 
must  exist  between  insurance  companies  and  employers' 
associations,  so  that  the  experience  of  practical  employers 


G6  ACCIDENT  ^PHEVENTlON   AND   RELIEF 

will  T3e'at  the  disposal  of  insurance  concerns,  and  vice 
versa.  Only  in  tbis  way  can  prevention  efforts  of  each 
insured  employer  bear  the  greatest  possible  weight  upon 
insurance  rates  and  the  experience  of  the  best  preven- 
tion experts  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  insured  at 
all  time's.*  -  • 

It  is  not  enough  to  appeal  to  the  motives  of  humanity 
among  employers.     They  must  see  that  it  is  a  business 
proposition  for  them  to  iriVest  in  safety  appliances. 
Co-operative  Mutual  Compensation  iiisurance  by  industries  might 

Insurance  ■ ..  .  . 

Decreases  be  fouiid  as  advautageous   as   is   mutual   fire  insurance 

Cost 

by  industries.  Most  of  us  know  that  the  rates  of  fire 
insurance  have  been  reduced  as  much  as  75  per  cent  in 
some  establishments  by  the  adoption  of  the  mutual  prin- 
ciple and  the  selection  of  risks.  That  a  similar  showing 
can  be  made  in  accident  insurance  is  proven.  As  an  il- 
lustration :  Commercial  travelers  were  considered  a  haz- 
ardous risk  years  ago,  and  had  to  pay  |25  to  $35  annual 
premiums  for  accident  insurance.  By  establishing  com- 
mercial travelers'  mutual  insurance  this  premium  rate 
has  been  reduced  to  an  average  of  |7.74  per  year  for 
twenty-seven  years.  However,  it  would  be  a  most  serious 
mistake  for  us  to  endorse  mutual  accident  compensation 
insurance  in  too  broad  a  way. 

Compensation  insurance  will  have  a  hard  period  before 

it  can  come  down  to  equitable  standard  rates.     Competi- 

.^  tion  is  going  to  play  havoc  with  insurance  rates,  just  as  it 

has  in  England,  and  unscrupulous  promoters  are  going 

to  take  advantage  of  the  fact  that  a  final  accounting  in 


VARIOUS   FORMS   OF   INSURANCE  6.7 

accident  insurance  cannot  be  brought  about  in  less  than  strict  ipsur- 
fifty  years.     That  is  such  a  long  time  that  the  promoters  cios^, scrutiny 

by  Employers 

can. make  money  and  get  out,  leaving  the  insured  ^em-  Requisite  ,;., 
ployers  and  workers  to  hold  the  bag.     The  sti^ictest  kind 
of  insurance  laws  and  the  closest  kind  of  scrutiny  on 
the  part  of  employers  will  only  lessen,  it  will  not  elimi- 
nate, this  danger. 

.  The  establishment  of  mutual  fire  insurance  has  stimu- 
lated the  fire  insurance  business,  and  the  .establishment 
of  mutual  compensation  insurance  will  stimulate  com- 
pensation insurance  business  in  a  similar  way.  As  long 
as  the  end  is  assured  the  employer  should  be  given  all 
possible  freedom  in  selecting  his  insurance.-  -The-^success 
of  a  system  and  the  interest  of  all  concerned,  demand  that 
every  method  which  can  be  provided  for  compensation 
shall  definitely  assure  the  compensation  to  the  injured 
worker  when  it  becomes  due. 

^r:   statistics 
Scientific    prevention    and    insurance    are    impossible  Necessity 

^  of  Accurate 

without  accurate  statistics.  We  have  discussed  this,  and  statistics 
also  the  lack  of  such  statistics  in  the  United  States,  but 
we  want  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  almost  any  sort 
of  information  can  be  gathered  from  the  German  statistical 
tables.  Efforts  to  increase  efficiency  or  reduce  risks  and 
to  base  the  rate  of  cotitribution  upon  the  exact  ratio  of 
risk,  are  constantly  made  by  trained  experts.  The  fol- 
lowing figures  indicate  this  tendency. 


Industrial 
Accidents 
According  to 
Days    and 
Hours 


68  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

Figure  19  points  out  the  frequency  of  industrial  ac- 
cidents according  to  days  and  hours.  Please  note  that  be- 
tween the  hours  of  9  A.  M.  and  12  M.  and  3  and  6  P.  M. 
there  are  the  greatest  number  of  accidents,  also  that  more 
accidents  occur  on  Monday  and  Saturday  than  on  any 
other  week  day.  If  we  give  credit  to  the  general  belief 
that  the  great  percentage  on  Saturday  is  due  to  the 
fatigue  of  the  workers,  we  may  also  be  compelled  to  infer 
that  a  similar  fatigue  exists  among  workers  on  Monday 
morning. 


FIGURE  J9 

FREQUENCY  OF   INDUSTRIAL   ACCIDENTS   ACCORDING 
TO   DAYS  AND  HOURS. 


HOURS                      1    3  6  9  12  15  18  21  24  27  30  I 

A.M. 
P.M. 

[12            3      ■ 

1 

3            6      I 

_    _  _ 

9      ■■■■■ 

[      9           12      ■ 

■| 

[12            3      ■ 

1 

3        el 

^^^1 

d      ^^P 

9      12   mVT 

1 

DAYS                         12  4  6   8  10  12  14  16  18  20 

SUNDAY         ■ 

1    J 

1 

MONDAY           P 

^^^^ 

^^^^ 

1 

r 

TUESDAY         B 

WEDNESDAY     ■ 
THURSDAY        ■ 
FRIDAY            ■ 

1 

SATURDAY         ■ 

■ 

■ 

■ 

■ 

■ 

m 

VARIOUS  FORMS  OF  INSURANCE 


69 


Figure  20  indicates  the  frequency  of  industrial  acci-  industrial 
dents  according  to  age  and  sex.  Please  note  in  this  and  Accotd?ng  to 
the  following  diagram  the  increased  hazard  in  all  occu- 
pations due  to  age.  Several  countries  have  had  sad  ex- 
periences in  barring  older  men  from  employment  on  ac- 
count of  their  greater  liability  to  accidental  injury. 
Under  the  German  system  there  is  no  such  disadvantage, 
and  we  should  see  to  it  that  there  is  none  in  our  country. 
Another  lesson  pointed  out  in  this  chart  is  the  low  rate 
of  accidents  to  women  workers  as  compared  with  men  in 
the  industries. 

FIGURE  20 
FREQUENCY    OF    ACCIDENTS    ACCORDING  TO  AGE  AND  SEX 


PER  1000 

17 

UNDER 
16 

16 

Ifl 
20 

20 
30 

30 
40 

4o 
50 

50 
60 

60 
70 

OVER 

70 

PfR  1000 

17 

lA 

i 

16 

15 

.^^ 

IS 

X 

nfS 

«S 

14 

i 

<A 

•*■ 

13 

12 

r 

r 

1? 

II 

// 

ii 

10 

(/ 

10 

9 

'*J 

7 

9 

A 

W 

A 

7 

Mr 

7 

6 

" 

ff 

£ 

s 

V^ 

f 

5 

A 

^ 

4 

5 

.^ 

^ 

'f— 

.^ 

>!.. 

3 

2 

^ 

.    ^nM 

LH.,»«* 

%•*• 

'«# 

'•*.. 

2 

1 



^M..^* 

?»••' 

s 

1 

Industrial  workers. 


Agricultural 
Accidents 
Accordingr  to 
Age  and  Sex 


70  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

Figure  21  pictures  tlie  frequency  of  agricultural  acci- 
dents accordin<^  to  age  and  sex.  Please  note  that  the 
rate  of  accidents  to  women  workers  is  higher  here  than 
the  rate  of  accidents  to  men,  illustrating  the  fact  that 
accident  compensation,  insurance  and  prevention  have  as 
large  a  field  on  the  farm  as  in  the  industries. 


FIGURE  2t 
FREQUENCY    OF    ACCIDENTS    ACCORDING    TO  AGE 
AND  SEX 


PER  1000 
17 

UNDER 
16 

18 

18 
20 

20 
30 

30 
40 

46 

50 

5b 

60 

60 
70 

OVER 
70 

PER  1000 

\f, 

m 

15 

15 

14 

14 

i:^ 

17. 

\7 

12 

II 

II 

m 

J 

V 

10 

9 

^ 

X 

^ 

I 

9 

8- 

1 

' 

.4^ 

Y 

ft 

7 

'^ 

y 

f 

7 

g 

A 

f^ 

5 

^ 

r 

5 

4 

J 

4 

3 

^ 

^ 

r 

3 

2 

:t 

2^ 

voqMciS 

^ 

' 

, 

2 

1 

• 

..... 

TTr 

... 

■%»•' 

, 

1 

i 

'■■ 

Agricultural    workers. 


Comparison  of 
Industrial  and 
Agricultural 
Accidents 


Figure  22  compares  frequency  of  accidents  according 
to  days  of  the  week  for  industrial:  and  agricultural  work- 
ers. Please  n^^  that  farmery  areisuffering  from  the  same 
fatigue  which  characterizes  the  industrial  workers  on 
Saturday  and  Monday. 


VARIOUS   FORMS   OF   INSURANCE 


71 


FIGURE  22 

FREQUENCY    OF    ACCIDENTS    ACCORDING    TO    DAYS 
OF   THE   WEEK 


PROPOR 
TION 

SUNDAY 

MONDAY 

TUESDAY  WEDNESDAY  THURSDAY 

FRIDAY 

SATURDAY 

PROPOR- 
TION 

1,2 

A^ — 

^Oi^x-i-,^ 

•2 

IJ 

1 

"^^^ 

^liijjj^ 

I    WORr^E 

s?- 

^^ 

1  J 

1.0 

1 

^^Tftft^^ 

-(^''^ 

1,0 

0,9 

1 

^'CULTUR, 

kU"**^*^ 

0,Q 

o.a 

1 

0,8 

07 

11 

0,7 

0,6 

1 

0.6 

0,5 

1 

0,5 

0,4 

// 

0,4 

0,.^ 

r/ 

0,.-^ 

0,? 

/ 

0? 

OJ 

f 

OJ 

Comparison   of   industrial   and   agricultural   workers. 


Scientific  Inspection 
A  scientific  but  practical  inspection  systeni  is  prob-  scientific 

_  Factory 

ably  one  of  the  greatest  requirements  for  a  proper,  soln-  inspection 

„  .  _       ,  .  , .  an  Essential 

tion  of  this  problem.  A  thorough  factory  inspection 
system  is  a  very  important  part  of  the  German  accident 
prevention  and  insurance  system.  There  are  two  kinds 
of  inspectors — government  inspectors  and  employers'  as- 
sociation inspectors.  The  duty  of  the  former  is  prin- 
cipally to  see  that  working  conditions  are  in  keeping 
with  the  law,  while  the  duty  of  the  latter  is  chiefly  to 
see  that  those  conditions  conform  to  the  regulations  of 
employers'  associations.     But  a  very  important  duty  of  two  classes 

^       "^  '  .of  Factory 

both    classes   of   inspectors   is   to   study   working   condi-  inspectors 
tions,   determine  hazards  v^nd   make  suggestions   to   the 
administration  officers.     To  this  end  specialists  of  high 
grade   are   employed   principally   by   employers'    associa- 


72  ACCIDENT    PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

tions,  and  in  many  cases  these  men  devote  their  whole 
lives  to  a  study  of  the  hazards  of  a  particular  industry. 
It  is  the  specialization  and  the  certainty  of  remaining 
in  a  chosen  line  regardless  of  political  or  administrative 
changes  which  make  the  German  inspection  system  so 
efficient.  New  men  entering  this  profession  must  start 
with  a  thorough  theoretical  and  practical  education. 
They  must  be  graduates  of  engineering  colleges,  and  are 
often  placed  in  subordinate  positions  with  little  pay  for 
years,  before  they  are  promoted  to  posts  of  real  respon- 
sibility. There  is  no  connection  between  state  or  national 
politics  and  appointments  of  this  kind. 

The  following  concise  statement  bearing  on  this  sub- 
ject was  prepared  for  us  by  Dr.  Konrad  Hartmann,  Pro- 
fessor of  Preventive  Engineering  and  the  highest  govern- 
ment authority  on  such  subjects  in  Germany: 

"All  factories  in  the  German  Empire  are  inspect- 
ed both  by  officials  of  the  State  Boards  of  Inspection 
and  by  experts  in  the  employ  of  the  employers'  as- 
sociation. 
Duties  of  "The  State  Boards  of  Industrial  Inspection  de- 

inspTJtorT  rive  their  authority  from  the  governments  of  the 

Federal  states.  Their  principal  function  is  the  en- 
forcement of  the  imperial  laws  governing  industrial 
affairs  and  of  the  special  rules  and  regulations  en- 
acted by  the  Federal  Council  or  the  authorities  gen- 
erally for  the  protection  of  German  workingmen. 
These  State  Boards  of  Inspection  deal  principally 
with  the  prevention  of  accidents;  they  inspect  and 
supervise  steam  boilers  and  plants  requiring  spe- 
cial   licenses,    they   investigate   the    working    con- 


VARIOUS   FORMS   OF   INSURANCE  73 

ditions  of  women  and  children  and  look  into  ques- 
tions affecting  factory  hygiene,  night  and  Sunday 
work,  wages  and  hours  of  employment. 

"The  members  of  these  State  Boards  of  Inspection 
are  state  officials.  Before  being  appointed,  they  Educational 
must  attend  technological  institutes  for  three  years  for'^Gov^e^nment 
and  study  law  and  national  economy  for  another  ^"^p*^^°^^ 
year  and  a  half.  Two  examinations  are  required  of 
them,  one  covering  their  knowledge  of  engineering 
or  chemistry,  and  the  other  one  covering  practical 
experience  of  one  and  a  half  years'  service  to  the 
Board  in  a  minor  capacity.  After  passing  these  two 
examinations,  they  become  so-called  ^industrial  as- 
sessors' and  subsequently  inspectors,  to  each  of 
whom  is  assigned  a  certain  district.  In  the  course 
of  time  the  inspector  becomes  what  is  called  an  in- 
dustrial counsellor'  and  is  then  considered  a  gov- 
ernment official.  Last  year  the  State  Boards  of  In- 
dustrial Inspection  employed  488  inspectors,  among 
whom  there  were  29  female  assistants.  To  this 
number  must  be  added  114  special  mine  inspectors. 
Both  the  factory  and  mine  inspectors  render  annual 
reports  which  are  published. 

"The  employers'  associations  are  organized  for 
the  purpose  of  operating  (under  the  supervision  of 
the  imperial  government)  the  compulsory  accident 
insurance  system  to  which  all  employers  are  subject 
in  Germany.  These  associations  are  authorized  to 
prescribe  accident  prevention  measures  for  the 
plants  within  their  jurisdiction  and  to  engage  the 
necessary  inspectors  for  their  enforcement.     These 


74 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Requirements 
for  Employers' 
Associations' 
Inspectors 


Excellence  of 
German 
System 
Due  to 
Efficient 
Inspection    , 


inspectors  must  be  trained  engineers  and,  as  a  rule, 
men  with,  a  college  or  university  education  are 
chosen.  About  340  inspectors  are  employed  by  the 
employers'  associations  at  the  present  time.  Agri- 
culture has  no  adequate  system  of  supervision  or  in- 
spection as  yet,  but  such  a  systenf  will  be  estab- 
lished in  the  next  few  years.  Annual  reports  are 
rendered  by  the  experts  of  the  employers'  associa- 
tions concerning  their  work.  These  reports  are  pub- 
lished and  contain  a  great  deal  of  statistical  and 
other  information  concerning  the  science  of  acci- 
dent prevention. 

^^This  two-fold  system  of  factory  inspection  has 
so  far  caused  no  friction  or  abuses  of  any  kind.    This 
for  the  reason  that  the  large  number  of  plants  to  be 
inspected  makes  it  impossible  to  visit  any  particular 
concern  more  than  once  a  year  and  the  requirements 
of  the  State  Boards  of  Inspection  and  of  the  em- 
ployers' associations  are  practically  uniform." 
As  already  mentioned,  the  efficiency  of  the  inspection 
department  and  the  personnel  thereof  account  in  a  large 
measure  for  the  high  standard  of  the  whole  system,  and 
for  the  absolute  reliability  of  statistical  records.    On  this 
point  Mr.  Frederick  K.  Hoffmann,  statistical  expert  for 
the  Prudential  Insurance  Company  in  the  United  States, 
is  quoted  as  follows : 

"I  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  without  fear  of  contra- 
diction, that  a  single  report  of  a  technical  supervis- 
ing official  in  any  branch  of  the  German  industry 
contains  more  matter  of  real  determining  and  vital 
importance  than  all  the  reports  which  have  ever 


VARIOUS   FORMS   OF   INSURANCE  75 

been  made  under  our  inadequate  system  of  factory 
inspection." 

We  are  confident  that  Mr.  Hoffmann's  statement  is 
not  intended  as  a  reflection  upon  individuals — no  more  so 
than  our  argument.  It  is  the  system  and  not  the  men 
that  must  be  attacked  and  changed. 

Litigation 

The  shortcomings  of  our  present  laws  in  antagonizing 
harmonious  relations  between  employers  and  workers  are 
too  well  known  to  need  lengthy  explanation.  Every  em- 
ployer of  experience  is  aware  that  in  nine  cases  out  of 
ten  any  kind  of  settlement  with  an  injured  workman 
under  our  present  laws  is  unsatisfactory.  It  is  more 
or  less  a  gamble.  Tlie  relations  of  employer  and  em- 
ploye often  are  transformed  into  personal  dislike,  or 
even  hatred,  during  damage  suits  and  this  feeling  leaves 
a  lastingly  bad  influence,  sometimes  through  a  whole 
establishment.      There    is    no    gamble    in    the    German  Between 

1  •    1  •  1     Employer 

system,   and   even   m   controversies   which   arise   regard-  and  Employe 

.  .       .     ,  ,      .      Tender  German 

mg  compensation  the  individual  employer's  interest  is  system 
not  opposed  to  that  of  his  injured  worker.  In  fact, 
he  is  usually  very  much  interested  in  seeing  that  his 
worker  receives  a  fair  deal  at  the  hands  of  his  employers- 
association.  Let  us  point  out  the  regular  method  which 
is  provided  for  detei'Uiining  compensation. 

The  first  step  is  the  decision  of  a  regular  commission 
consisting  of  members  of  au  emplo;y'ers'  association. 
Every  case  of  injurv  lasting  inore  than  13  weeks  must  be 


76 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Compensation 
for  the  First 
13    Weeks 


German 
Mode  of 
Determining 
Amount  of 
Compensation 


referred  promptly  to  these  commissions.  We  have  al- 
ready explained  that  during  the  first  13  weeks  the  in- 
jured person  receives  medical  treatment  and  financial 
and  other  benefits  from  the  sickness  insurance  fund, 
to  the  cost  of  which  the  employer  pays  33  per  cent  and 
the  worker  66  per  cent.  The  award  is  promptly  trans- 
mitted to  the  injured  worker  in  writing  on  regular 
blanks,  which  have  printed  on  them  in  black  type  a  notice 
to  the  effect  that  if  the  award  is  not  satisfactory  to  the 
injured  or  his  dependents  it  can  be  appealed  within  one 
month,  free  of  cost,  to  one  of  the  regular  arbitration 
courts,  which  becomes  the  second  step  of  the  legal  process. 
These  courts  consist  of  a  regularly  appointed  judge,  who 
has  had  special  training  for  this  class  of  work.  He,  with 
tAvo  employers  elected  by  the  employers  of  the  district, 
and  two  wage  workers  elected  by  the  wage  w^orkers  of 
the  district,  make  a  jury  of  five  experts.  The  employers 
and  workers  are  taken  from  the  industries  in  which  the 
accident  has  happened.  In  other  words,  for  agricultural 
accidents  two  employing  farmers  and  two  farm  hands 
serve  with  the  judge,  while  in  the  machine  trade  two 
machine  manufacturers  and  two  workers  engaged  in  that 
trade  serve  with  the  judge.  A  majority  decision,  that  is, 
three  out  of  five  votes,  fixes  the  status  of  the  appealed 
case. 

We  attended  two  arbitration  court  sittings.  The  regu- 
lar judge  with  his  associate  commissioners  of  employers 
and  wage  workers  tried  from  20  to  22  appealed  cases  in 
two  and  one-half  to  three  hours.  There  was  no  hurry, 
a  remarkable  absence  of  formality,  a  thoroughness  and  a 


VARIOUS   FORMS   OF   INSURANCE  77 

serious  common-sense  endeavor  to  get  at  the  facts,  which 
made  a  much  more  favorable  impression  upon  us  than 
the  numerous  damage  cases  which  we  have  seen  tried  in 
our  courts.  An  experienced  doctor  was  present  to  assist 
the  court  in  matters  requiring  medical  knowledge.  In 
many  cases  a  medical  examination  was  made  in  the  court 
room.  Both  sides  to  a  controversy  have  the  privilege 
of  representation  through  counsel,  but  the  authority  of 
the  judge  and  of  the  jury  is  so  great  that  practically  no 
advantage  can  be  secured  by  introducing  technical  ques- 
tions. The  fact  that  the  total  litigation  expenses  amount 
to  only  1.2  per  cent  of  the  insurance  premiums  indi- 
cates that  the  system  is  thoroughly  efficient.  This 
amount,  however,  does  not  cover  that  part  of  the  court 
cost  which  is  borne  by  the  state. 

The  award  of  the  arbitration  court  is  transmitted  to    oniy 
both  sides,  but  in  important  matters  this  award  can  be   (^^es  ^" 
appealed  to   a   court   of  last   resort,   which   is  called  a   ^''^^pp®^® 
"Senate."     Such  a  Senate  consists  of  a  chairman,  always 
a  jurist,   appointed  by  the  Imperial   Insurance  Depart- 
ment, two  technical  experts  of  the  same  department,  two 
judges  of  regular  courts  and  one  employer  and  one  em- 
ploye, a  total  of  seven  men.     There  is  no  appeal  from  the 
decision   of   this   court,   but  in   case   two   such    Senates 
render  decisions  which  seem  to  establish  different  prece- 
dents, there  is  a  provision  for  an  enlarged  Senate,  or  two 
Senates  meet  jointly  and  can  overrule  either  one  or  both 
decisions. 

The  time  required  from  the  first  decision  to  final  rul- 
ing is  said  to  be  never  more  than  a  year,  and  more  often 


78 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


only  from  four  Aveeks  to  four  months.  During  the  period 
pending  final  decision  part  compensation  is  paid  in  all 
deserving  cases.  That  the  compensation  awards  are 
reasonably  just  is  evident  from  the  comparatively  low 
percentage  of  changed  decisions,  as  shown  in  Figure  23. 
In  .every  one  of  the  42  cases  which  we  ^aw  transacted 
the  decision  of  the  five  men  was  unanimous. 


FIGURE    23 
DISPUTED    COMPENSATION    CLAIMS 

422,076  £J^^^^^^^|J^^^^^^^^gy^^^^r^>^s-j^g^ 

Ji  104,298   APPEALS    BY    EMPLOYEES  TO    ARBITRA-    ^  -  „  « 
^^__^^^|J  TION  COURT _24.7  % 

9  83,781   APPEALS  DECIDED  IN  FAVOR  OF  EMPLOYERS      tr\nrG 
jgggM  BY  ARBITRATION  COURT  IS.Oj/o 

20,517    APPEALS  DECIDED  IN  FAVOR  OF  EMPLOYEES  BY  ARBI-        j,  ^ro 
TRATION  COURT T.OD>& 

19,634   SECOND   APPEALS  TO  SENATE  (COURT  OF  LAST  RESORT)  m  rAO 

BY  EMPLOYEES                                                                                      _    _      _  T'-UT'S 

5,600  SECOND  APPEALS  TO  SENATE  (COURT  OF  LAST  RESORT)  BY  looo 

EMPLOYERS  \.6l.^ 

14,701  CONFIRMATIONS  OF  ARBITRATION  COURT  BY  SENATE  J  AR^ 

5,066  DECISIONS  OF  ARBITRATION  COURT  CHANGED  BY  SENATE  12^ 

TOTAL    CHANGES    BY    ARBITRATION  COURT   AND  SENATE   FROM   EM-       A.Ci  <^ 
PLOYERS'  ASSOCIATIONS'  VERDICTS  I.'-'    'O 


German 
Arbitration 
Courts 
Fair  and 
Impartial 


A. feature  which  struck  us  very  forcibly  in  watching 
the  work  of  the  German  arbitration  courts  was  the  fact 
that  in  several  cases  small  emplo^^ers  appeared  in  behalf 
of  their  workmen,  endeavoring  to  secure  the  highest  rate 
of  compensation  consistent  with  justice.  However,  in 
each  case  the  employer's  argument  seemed  to  avail  noth- 
ing before  the  fair  and  impartial  court.  While  the  result 
^as  not  in  the '  slightest   degree  influenced  by   the  em- 


VARIOUS   FORMS   OF   INSURANCE  79 

ployer-s  friendly  feeling  toward  his  injured  workman,  it 
was  a  decided  contrast  to  the  usual  attitude  of  employer 
and  worker  before  our  courts  in  damage  suits. 

The   imi^ortance   of   single  liability   is  recognized  in   importance  of 

Single 

Germany.  While  it  is  possible  to  sue  an  employer  for  Liability 
heavier  damages  than  those  awarded  under  the  automatic 
compensation  act  in  cases  of  criminal  carelessness,  such 
suits  are  unknoAvn.  Neither  in  insurance  rates  nor  in 
any  other  phase  of  the  insurance  system  is  any  other 
obligation  considered  than  that  established  under  the 
Compensation  Act. 


CHAPTER    FIVE 

Hazardous  Occupations — Comparative  Hazard  or 
Industry  and  Farm 


Necessary 


CHAPTER  V 

Hazardous  Occupations — Comparative  Hazard  of 
Industry  and  Farm 

Statistical  records  compel  a  readjustment  of  our  con-  a  New 
ventional  notions  as  to  the  comparative  hazard  of  vari-  S  Ha'JTrds'''* 
ous  employments.  A  number  of  our  states  have  expressed 
in  their  laws,  or  contemplated  laws,  the  opinion  that  there 
are  among  the  regular  trades  certain  very  dangerous  ones, 
and  that  if  these  trades  are  covered  by  obligatory  com- 
pensation for  accidents,  the  problem  will  be  nearly  settled. 
We  have  heard  this  sentiment  expressed  very  strongly  by 
some  of  the  framers  of  the  New  York  law.  The  building 
trades,  for  illustration,  are  classed  in  this  category  in 
the  state  of  New  York.  We  have  had  five  charts  prepared 
from  the  statistics  of  the  German  empire,  which  tell  a 
surprising  story. 

PMgure  24  analyzes  the  total  number  of  accidents. 

Figure  25  shows  the  comparative  number  of  total  and 
permanent  disability  cases. 

Figure  26  analyzes  all  cases  of  permanent  and  com- 
plete disability. 

Figure  27  deals  with  partial  permanent  disability. 

Figure  2S  analyzes  temporary  disability. 

83 


84 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 


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HAZARDOUS   OCCUPATIONS 


85 


FIGURE   28 

TEMPORARY    DISABILITY    CAUSED    BY    OCCUPATIONAL 
ACCIDENTS    IN    J908 


50% 


All  these  data  are  based  upon  statistics  for  the  year 
1908,  which  do  not  materially  differ  from  former  years 
except  that  they  show  a  reduction  in  the  proportion  of  farm 
accidents  to  those  of  other  occupations. 

After  studying  these  charts  it  would  seem  of  little  The  Farmer 

a  Factor  in 

use  to  construct  laws  or  adopt  systems  which  do  not  cover  ah  Accident 
the  farmer.     He  stands  first  on  each  of  the  five  charts    ^^  ^^^ 


86 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Comparison  of 
Accidents   in 
Agricultural 
and  Building 
Industries 


charged  with  43.5  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  in- 
jured; 30  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  dead;  32.5  per 
cent  of  the  total  number  of  permanently  completely  in- 
capacitated; 45  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  perma- 
nently partly  incapacitated  and  45  per  cent  of  those 
temporarily  incapacitated. 

Compare  this  with  the  building  industry  which  contrib- 
utes 7.5  per  cent,  8.5  per  cent,  5.5  per  cent,  6  per 
cent  and  9  per  cent,  respectively^,  of  the  various  degrees 
of  injur}^  and  it  becomes  evident  that  accident  prevention, 
compensation  and  insurance  has  as  large  a  field  on  the 
farm  as  it  has  in  the  industries.  We  do  not  want  to  be 
understood  as  asserting  that  there  are  more  injuries  per 
thousand  among  farm  workers  than  there  are  in  the  more 
hazardous  industrial  callings,  but  even  here  the  farmer 
shows  up  fairly  high,  as  is  evident  from  a  study  of  Figure 
1  (frontispiece).  This  chart,  entitled  "Frequency  and  Re- 
sults of  Accidents,"  is  a  translated  reproduction  of  one  of 
the  most  important  official  ta])les  of  the  Imperial  Insurance 
Department.  It  is  well  worth  very  careful  study.  Prof. 
Dr.  Manes  places  the  number  of  injured  farmers  per 
thousand  insured  at  a  lower  figure  than  is  shown  in  this 
official  table,  but  the  importance  of  covering  farm  workers 
is  not  lessened,  even  if  the  rate  per  thousand  is  reduced 
by  one-half.  To  safeguard  the  greatest  number  of  hu- 
man beings  and  to  compensate  the  greatest  number  of  in- 
jured Avorkers  must  be  the  basis  for  action,  and  a  system 
which  excludes  43.5  per  cent  of  all  injured  workers  can- 
not be  called  just  or  progressive. 


HAZARDOUS   OCCUPATIONS  87 

The  importance  of  covering  the  farm  workers  is  fur-  Agricultural 

Hazard  must 

ther  evidenced  by  a  study  of  records  of  former  years.  At  be  considered 
the  beginning  of  the  accident  insurance  period  in  Ger- 
many the  same  erroneous  impression  existed  there  as  to 
the  relative  hazard  of  industrial  and  agricultural  work 
which  now  exists  in  this  country.  Statistical  records  for 
a  few  years  brought  a  change  in  Germany,  as  is  shown 
by  the  following  statement  from  the  official  insurance 
record  of  tlie  year  1902: 

"It  Avas  formerly  believed  that  agricultural  pur- 
suits were  comparatively  free  from  accidental  in- 
2^vj.    The  enforcement  of  the  compensation  law  of 
1886  has  proven  this  vicAV  erroneous.    The  statistics 
for  1901  show  that  the  48  agricultural  employers' 
associations  of  Germany  during  this  one  year  have 
had  to  compensate  50,039  injured  workers,  Avhich  is 
540  more  than  are  charged  against  the  65  industrial 
employers'  associations  for  the  same  period.'' 
What   German    statistics   have  proven   regarding   the 
hazards  of  farming  every  other  country  which  has  given 
this  subject  attention,  has  found  to  be  correct  only  it  is 
more  difficult  to  prove  elsewhere  because  of  lack  of  reli- 
able information. 

Germany  was  not  slow  to  call  attention  to  farm  ac-  Decrease  in 

Farm 

cident  statistics,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  following  illus-  Accidents  in 

Germany 

trations  and  figures  copied  from  official  German  records. 
Tlie  result  is  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  farm  casualties 
from  more  than  50  per  cent  of  the  total  casualties  of  the 
empire  in  1902  to  43.5  per  cent  in  1908. 


88 


ACCIDENT    PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 


FIGURE   29 


All  dangerous  parts  of  apparatus  and  all  safety  devices  are  painted  red 
to  attract  workers'  special  attention. 


FIGURE   30 


14,945  accidents,  including  632  deaths,  among  farm  workers  are  caused  by 
fallfi  from  ladders,  out  of  haylofts,  etc.,  during  one  year. 


HAZARDOUS   OCCUPATIONS 


89 


FIGURE   3J 


Dangerous  animals  must  be  guarded. 


FIGURE   32 


19,148  injuries,  including  1,180  deaths,  among  fai-m  workers  are  caused 
by  animal  bites  and  kicks  during  one  year. 


90 


ACCIDENT    PREVENTION   AND    RELIEF 


FIGURE    33 


Farm  wagons  must  be  equipped  with  safety  appliances. 
Agricultural  teaming  is  responsible  for  10,480  accidents  in  one  year. 


FIGURE   34 


Illustration  to  the  left  shows  the  safe  loading  of  timber. 

Illustration  to  the  right  shows  the  proper  method  of  fastening  logs 
during  hauling,  and  calls  attention  to  proper  condition  of  brakes  for  lumber 
wagons. 

5,718  accidents  among  farm  workers  are  caused  in  one  year  while  cutting 
and  hauling  timber. 


HAZARDOUS    OCCUPATIONS^^ 


^^^^ 


FIGURE   35 


Feed  cutting  machine  without  and  with  safety  guards. 
],777  accidents,  including  17  deaths,  caused  by  feed  cutting  machines  in 
one  year. 


FIGURE   36 


Threshing  machine  without  and  with  safety  devices. 

Threshing  machines   are   responsible  for  1,296  accidents    (44  deaths)    in 
one  year. 


9^2^:^ 


A<X^Ii)^ENT    PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 


FIGURE    37 


Farmers'  horse  power  mills  must  be  properly  safeguarded.    Responsible  for 
203  accidents  in  one  year. 


FIGURE    38 


Farmers'  power  transmission  machinery,  without  and  with  safety  covering.. 


FIGURE    39 


Farmers'  power  transmission  machinery  is  responsible  for  353  accidents^ 
including  39  deaths,  in  one  year. 


HAZARDOUS   OCCUPATIONS 


93 


FIGURE   40 


Farmers'  cider  mill  with  and  without  safety  covering  for  gears. 


There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  hazard  of  the  Agricultural 
farm  as  compared  with  the  industries  is  even  greater  in  Germany 
the  United  States  than  it  is  in  Germany.     First,  because  ^Hl  *^^" 
there  is  more  pioneer  farming  which  is  necessarily  more 
dangerous,  and  second,  because  the  use  of  farm  machin- 
ery is  much  more  extensive  among  farmers  in  the  United 
States  than  in  European  countries. 

A  recent  statement  of  Mr.  Walter  Drew  of  New  York, 
on  this  subject  is  convincing  and  to  the  point.  He  says: 
"And  why  should  not  agriculture  be  the  most 
dangerous  of  all  employments?  A  farm  worker 
drives  teams,  uses  explosives,  handles  machinery 
of  all  sorts,  both  in  and  out  of  doors,  acts  as  car- 
penter, wood-cutter,  painter,  and  as  a  general 'Jack 


Compensation 
Measures 
will  Attract 
Farm  Labor 


94  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

of  all  trades.'  His  work  and  liis  driving  to  mar- 
ket take  him  across  railroad  tracks,  in  and  around 
cars,  freight  elevators,  etc.  There  is  scarcely  a  risk 
applicable  to  any  dangerous  trade  that  does  not 
fall  to  him  at  one  time  or  another,  and  added  to 
all  this,  and  especially  so  far  as  tlie  use  of  tools 
and  machinery  is  concerned,  he  is  not  specially 
skilled  or  trained,  and  has  to  work  in  company 
witli  other  men  who  are  likewise  more  or  less  un- 
skilled. 

"Consumption  of  agricultural  products  in  this 
country  has  increased  60  per  cent  in  the  last  ten 
years,  and  production  has  increased  but  30  per  cent. 
One  of  the  most  important  of  our  present  problems 
is  to  encourage  labor  to  seek  the  farm.  Is  there 
any  reason,  in  justice,  why  liability  acts  or  com- 
pensation measures  should  not  protect  the  farm 
worker,  and  is  there  not  every  reason,  from  the 
standpoint  of  national  industrial  well-being,  why 
the  farm  worker  should  be  equally  protected  with 
other  workers,  and  every  possible  objection  to  farm 
work  removed?" 

A  study  of  hazardous  occupations  would  be  incom- 
plete without  analyzing  all  occupations  with  the  view  of 
learning  the  particular  kinds  of  work  which  are  respon- 
sible for  most  accidents. 

Figures  41  and  42,  the  one  analyzing  farm  activities 
and  the  other  one  industrial  activities,  are  full  of  sur- 
prises. Note  that  falls  from  ladders  are  by  far  the  most 
serious  cause  of  accidents;  they  stand  first  in  the  farm 


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list,    charged    with    99    accidents    per    100,000    insured  comparative 

statistics 

workers,  and  second  on  the  industrial  list,  charged  with 
143  accidents  per  100,000  insured  workers.  Teaming, 
loading  and  unloading,  and  machinery  come  next  in  im- 
portance and  steam  boilers  rank  last  on  both  lists. 


CHAPTER   SIX 

Prevention  of  Accidents — Cause  and  Cure  of  Injuries 

European  Safety  Museums  (Accident 

Prevention  Institutions) 


CHAPTER  VI 

Prevention  of  Accidents  — Cause  and  Cure  of  Injuries 

European  Safety  Museums  (Accident 

Prevention  Institutions) 

In  line  with  the  official  declaration  of  the  National  importance  of 

Accident 

Association  of  Manufacturers,  Germany  places  prime  im-  Prevention 
portance  upon  accident  prevention.  Very  complete  sta- 
tistical figures  kept  for  25  years  have  intensified  in- 
terest in  and  action  on  this  subject  to  such  a  degree  that 
it  can  well  be  called  a  national  problem.  For  the  recent 
25th  anniversary  celebration  commemorating  the  begin- 
ning of  workers'  accident  compensation  insurance,  five 
splendid  volumes,  each  of  very  liberal  size,  were  devoted 
to  the  subject  of  accident  relief,  and  nine-tenths  of  all 
dealt  with  prevention.  One  volume  was  prepared  by  the 
Imperial  Insurance  Department,  one  by  the  industrial 
employers'  associations,  another  by  the  agricultural  em- 
ployers' associations,  one  by  the  Society  of  Prevention 
Engineers,  and  one  by  the  medical  fraternity. 

That  from  a  humane  viewpoint  accident  prevention 
is  not  only  desirable  but  absolutely  necessary  requires 
no  argument;  that  it  pays  as  a  business  proposition  can 

99 


100 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Accident 
Prevention 
a  Paying: 
Investment 


be  demonstrated  from  German  statistics.     The  transla- 
tions of  numerous  letters  from  German  employers,  mostly 
presidents  of  the  organizations  of  their  crafts,  are  quoted 
in  the  Appendix.     All  agree  that  accident  prevention  is 
a  paying  investment.     From  the  letter  of  Dr.  Kaufmann, 
president  of  the  German  Insurance  Departfiient,  we  quote : 
^The  wisdom  of  giving  employers'   associations 
all  possible  freedom  of  action  becomes  especially 
evident  in    *     *     *    accident  prevention.     *     *     ♦ 
Recognizing  that  it  is  of  prime  importance  to  pre- 
vent injury,  since  compensation  will  never  replace 
a  father  who  has  been  killed  or  make  up  for  lost 
limbs,  state  officials  and  officers  of  emploj^ers'  as- 
sociations  have  concentrated  their  combined   en- 
ergies upon  prevention,  and  wonderful  have  been 
the  results.     Scientific  accident  prevention  is  now 
recognized  as  a  special  and  important  branch  of 
technical  engineering. 

"Invention  and  prevention  have  gone  hand  in 
hand  in  this  work  as  advance  agents  of  civilization. 
*     *     *    The  workers'  lives  preserved  mean  main- 
tenance and  increase  of  our  national  resources  and 
give  plentiful  returns  for  the  heavy  financial  bur- 
dens which  social  insurance  places  upon  our  eco- 
nomic structure." 
Dr.  Spiecker,  president  of  the  Siemens  &  Halske  Com- 
pany, and  chairman  of  the  League  of  German  Employers' 
Associations,  which  practically  means  the  most  import- 
ant employer  in  Germany,  writes  us  as  follows : 

"Twenty-five  years  have  changed  ^obligatory  re- 
sults'  to   ^voluntary   performance.'     Today  every- 


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PREVENTION   OF   ACCIDEISI.XS ,    ..IjOl.  .    . 

body   who   views   the   situation   without  prejudice  changes 

in  the  Past 

must  acknowledge,  and  does  acknowledge,  that  the  25  years 
task  of  the  employers'  associations  in  this  field 
(prevention  and  compensation)  is  a  great  blessing, 
not  only  to  the  workers  but  to  the  industries  and 
the  nation.  It  is  perfectly  evident  today  that  we 
have  secured  higher  efficiency  in  our  industries,  due 
to  increased  workers'  efficiency,  all  brought  about 
b^^  relieving  our  workers  from  worries  and  distress 
on  account  of  sickness,  injury,  superannuation  and 
invalidity." 
Under   ^'Prevention"    should   be   carefully   considered 

prompt  and  expert  medical  help,  which  has  been  discussed 

in  Chapter  III. 

A  chart  showing  the  growth  of  official  expenditures  in  cost  of 

Accident 

the  direction  of  accident  prevention  during  25  years  is  Prevention 
shown  in  Figure  43,  but  it  must  be  understood  that 
the  sum  of  |4,250,000  shown  in  this  chart  is  only  a  very 
small  part,  probably  less  than  10  per  cent  of  the  total 
amount  expended  for  prevention.  It  covers  only  super- 
vision of  the  prevention  system.  There  is  no  official  record 
of  the  many  millions  which  have  been  expended  by  em- 
ployers' associations  and  by  individual  employers  for 
accident  prevention,  but  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  it 
follows  in  a  general  way  the  lines  of  Figure  43. 

The  spirit  which  enters  into  this  problem  is  best  illus- 
trated by  the  fact  that  in  addition  to  the  systematic  work 
carried  on  by  the  state,  employers'  associations  and  indi- 
vidual employers,  a  large  fund  was  raised  a  few  years  ago 
by  voluntary  subscription  among  employers  and  the  gen- 
eral public   for  the  special  purpose  of  stimulating  and 


,  ,  J.0,2,,  ,^,//a,ccid^j^t  prevention  and  relief 

promoting  accident  prevention  through  investigation,  edu- 
cation and  invention.  The  occasion  for  the  establishment 
of  this  fund  was  the  Silver  Wedding  of  the  German  Em- 
peror.  He,  with  the  best  men  of  the  nation,  believes 
that  a  monument  of  this  sort  is  of  greater  lasting  value 
than  marble  or  bronze.  What  a  wonderful  opportunity 
exists  in  this  direction  for  some  of  our  American  philan- 
thropists ! 
Progress  It  has  bccu  stated  by  men  who  are  supposed  to  be  more 

not 

Rapid  or  less  familiar  with  conditions  in  our  country  that  half 

of  our  accidents  are  preventable.  One  would  draw  the 
natural  inference  from  such  a  statement  that  five  or  ten 
years'  systematic  accident  prevention  will  reduce  the  num- 
ber of  injuries  50,  or  at  least  25  per  cent.  There  is  no 
such  favorable  record  in  Germany  after  25  years  of 
persistent  effort.  German  experts  tell  us  that  it  requires 
from  10  to  15  years  to  get  a  fair  start,  that  it  takes 
that  many  years  to  stop  the  natural  tendency  toward  in- 
crease in  percentage  of  accidents.  Germany's  statistical 
record  can  best  be  consulted  on  this  point  hj  separating 
the  agricultural  employers'  associations  from  the  indus- 
tries. Agricultural  records,  which  for  many  reasons  are 
not  in  as  good  form  for  detailed  research  as  are  industrial 
records,  show  16  per  cent  improvement  in  percentage  of 
accidents  in  10  years.  For  the  first  15  years  the  number 
rose  constantly. 

Industrial  employers'  associations  have  very  complete 
and  exact  records,  which  prove  that  the  machine  hazard 
(the  number  of  accidental  injuries  caused  by  machines), 
which  are  most  susceptible  to  prevention  efforts,  have  been 


PREVENTION    OF   ACCIDENTS 


103 


checked  very  materially,  while  the  total  hazards  of  indus- 
tries have  increased  rapidly. 

An  analysis  of  25  years'  records  of  various  industries   changes  m 

,,,,_,  ^       .  „  .  Proportion  of 

was  made  by  the  German  Society  of  Prevention  Eno^ineers    Accident 
recently,  from  which  we  print  a  few  charts  in  the  follow-    Past  25  Years 
ing  pages.     German  engineers  point  out  that  safety  ap- 
pliances cannot  be  made  which  will  prevent  human  reck- 
lessness or  carelessness. 


FIGURE    44 

TWENTY-ONE   YEARS'  ACCIDENT  PREVENTION  HISTORY 
FOR   ALL    GERMAN    INDUSTRIES  COMBINED 


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Number  of  injured  workers  per  one  thousand  insured  workers. 


104 


ACCIDENT    PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 


FIGURE    45 

TWENTY-ONE  YEARS'  ACCIDENT  PREVENTION  HISTORY 
IN    THE    CHEMICAL    INDUSTRY 


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68.89    90   91    92    93   94   55    96    97    98   'i'i  1900  01    02    03    04    05   06.07    Oft 


Number  of  injured  workers  per  thousand  insured. 


FIGURE    46 

TWENTY-ONE  YEARS'  ACCIDENT  PREVENTION  HISTORY 
IN    THE    MINING    INDUSTRY 


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Number  of  injured  miners  per  thousand  insured. 


105 


106 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


FIGURE    47 

TWENTY-ONE  YEARS'  ACCIDENT  PREVENTION  HISTORY 
IN   THE    IRON    AND    STEEL    INDUSTRY 


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Number  of  injured  workers  per  thousand  insured  workers. 


PREVENTION    OF    ACCIDENTS 


107 


FIGURE    48 

TWENTY-ONE   YEARS'  ACCIDENT  PREVENTION  HISTORY 
IN    THE    GLASS,    POTTERY    AND    BRICK    INDUSTRIES 




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Number  of  injured  workers  per  thousand  insured  workers. 

A  further  analysis  of  accidents  in  the  same  industries,  Further 

Analysis 

and  taken  from  the  same  records,  is  shown  in  the  following  of  Accidents 
pages.     Here  the  accidents  are  divided  into  four  classes, 
and  the  record  of  each  class  and  for  each  year  is  shown 
in  these  charts.    The  story  told  is  practically  the  same  in 
all  industries,  namely: 

1.  The  death  line  due  to  accidents  has  either  remained 
.stationary  or  has  actually  decreased. 

2.  The  total  and  permanent  disability  line  has  ma- 
terially decreased. 

3.  Partial  permanent  disability,  while  increasing  rap- 
idly up  to  the  year  1894,  remained  steady  up  to  1900  and 
constantly  decreased  since  then. 

4.  Temporary  disability  due  to  accidents  has  con- 
tinually and  rapidly  increased. 


108 


ACCIDENT    PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 
FIGURE  49 


RESULTS    OF   TWENTY-ONE    YEARS'  ACCIDENT   PREVEN- 
TION   FOR   ALL    INDUSTRIES    COMBINED 


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All  carves  express  disabled  workers  per  one  thousand  insured, 

FIGURE   50 

RESULTS    OF   TWENTY-ONE    YEARS'  ACCIDENT   PKEVEN- 
TION    FOR   THE    CHEMICAL    INDUSTRY 


1887  68  89   90  91    ofi   93   94   95   %    q-j   93  99  WOO  01    02    03   (H  05   06  07    05 
All  curves  express  disabled  workers  per  one  thousand  insured. 


PREVENTION    OF   ACCIDENTS 
FIGURE    5J 


109 


RESULTS    OF   TWENTY-ONE    YEARS' ACCIDENT   PREVEN- 

TION    FOR   THE    GLASS,    POTTERY   AND 

BRICK    INDUSTRIES 


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All  curves  express  disabled  workers  per  one  thousand  insured.        • 

FIGURE    52 

RESULTS    OF   TWENTY-ONE    YEARS*  ACCIDENT   PREVEN- 
TION    FOR   THE    IRON    AND    STEEL    INDUSTRIES 


iaB7  68  K 

All 


.    90   91    92   93  94  95    96   97   98  99  1900  01    02   03  04  05    06  07    08 
curves  express  disabled  workers  per  one  thousand  insured. 


110 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND    RELIEF 


FIGURE  53 

RESULTS    OF   TWENTY-ONE    YEARS'  ACCIDENT   PREVEN- 
TION   FOR   THE    MINING   INDUSTRY 


Preventive 
Measures 
Necessary  to 
Check  Accident 
Increase 


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All  curves  express  disabled  miners  per  one  thousand  insured. 

Lengthy  discussions  with  German  authorities  and  a 
thorough  study  of  the  work  just  published  by  the  Society 
of  Prevention  Engineers,  which  we  have  before  mentioned^ 
bring  out  these  additional  thoughts  on  the  subject : 

1.  Without  strenuous  prevention  efforts  industrial  ac- 
cidents grow  at  a  tremendous  rate.  It  is  not  fair  to 
stop  at  counting  the  actual  decrease,  we  must  also  count 
the  probable  large  increase  which  would  have  taken  place 
without  prevention  efforts. 

2.  More  and  more  slight  accidents  are  reported  each 
year.  Every  effort  of  the  government  and  of  employers' 
associations  is  directed  toward  prompt  reporting  of  all 


PREVENTION  OF  ACCIDENTS 


111 


FIGURE  54 

RESULTS  OF   TWENTY  YEARS^  ACCIDENT  PREVENTION 
(MINE    EMPLOYERS'    ASSOCIATION) 


1885-86 


1905 


Hi 


2265Accid2nts  10068  Accidents 

No.  Per  cent  No.  Per  cent 

1885-6  1905 

Killed     873         38.5-1  1235         12.27 

Permanently,   completely   disabled      89           3.93  02             .61 

Permanently,    partially    disabled      543         23.97  3916         38.90 

Temporarily   disabled    760         33.56  4855         48.22 


accidents.     There    are    penalties    provided    for    violation  slight 

Injuries 

of    this    rule    and    it    is,    therefore,    not    surprising   that  Formerly 

Unnoticed 

workers  report  slight  injuries  now  which  years  ago  were  Are  now 

Reported 

left  entirelj^  unnoticed.  In  view  of  this,  the  increase  in 
number  of  reported  accidents  does  not  necessarily  mean 
an  increase  in  actual  accidents. 


112 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Scarcity  of 
Help  a 
Source  of 
Accident 
Increase 


Accident 
Prevention 
As  a 
Business 
Proposition 


3.  German  industries  have  developed  wonderfully,  and 
the  necessity  of  employing  constantly  increasing  num- 
bers of  "green  hands''  on  machines  in  order  to  keep  "sup- 
ply'' up  to  "demand"  has  made  necessary  the  recruiting 
of  workers  from  among  foreigners,  who  do  not  speak  the 
language  of  the  country,  cannot  understanci  orders  or  read 
prevention  rules. 

All  of  which  points  to  this  conclusion.  Accident  pre- 
vention is  not  only  possible,  it  is  absolutely  necessary,  but 
it  is  a  slow  process.  Whosoever  approaches  it  with  the 
belief  that  the  problem  can  be  solved  in  the  United  States 
in  a  few  years,  or  without  a  systematic,  intelligent,  na- 
tional movement  which  must  have  the  co-operation  of  all 
interested  forces  and  especially  the  full  backing  of  pro- 
gressive legislators  and  employers,  is  over-confident,  to  say 
the  least. 

That  accident  prevention  pays,  as  a  business  proposi- 
tion, is  illustrated  in  Figures  55,  56,  57  and  58.  We  have 
taken  as  an  object  lesson  the  wood-working  industry,  not 
because  it  is  more  dangerous  than  many  others,  but  because 
the  actual  cases  brought  to  our  notice  happened  to  be 
esx)ecially  impressive. 

Figure  55  shows  an  old  type  square  cutter  head  for 
wood  planers.  It  revolves  at  high  speed  and  its  square 
form  permits  the  hand  of  the  operator  to  enter  the  slot, 
which  means  almost  certain  amputation  of  some  fingers 
and  this  in  turn  means,  of  course,  a  pension  for  life. 

The  round  cutter  head,  shown  in  Figure  57,  was  in- 
vented to  do  away  with  the  many  serious  accidents  to 
operators.  It  can  be  put  in  the  place  of  the  square  cutter 
head  at  a  few  hundred  dollars  expense. 


FIGURES  55,  56,  57  and  58 


Old  type  square  cutter  head  for  wood  planer.    Very  dangerous.    Its  use 
now  prohibited   in   Germany. 


Injuries  caused  by  square  cutter  head.  Four  cases  like  first  illustration 
to  the  left  cost  $15,000.00  in  pensions. 

Five  cases  like  second  illustration  (one  death  due  to  blood  poisoning) 
cost  $4,000.00  to  date  and  $350.00  pension  per  year. 


New  type  round  cutter  head  for  wood  planer.    ]Much  safer  in  operation. 
Saves  20  per  cent  in. insurance  premiums. 


Four  hands  which  have  come  in  contact  with  round  cutter  head.  Note 
small  abrasions  indicated  bv  black  spots.  If  square  cutter  head  had  been  used 
all  four  hands  would  probably  be  crippled  similar  to  those  illustrated  above. 

113 


114 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND   RELIEF 


The  following  figures  illustrate  the  method  of  applying 
simple  safety  devices  to  machines. 


FIGURE  59 


Safety  appliance  attached  to  wood  groover. 

Illustration  to  left  shows  old  method  of  operating  machine  which  is  very 
dangerous  and  responsible  for  many  lost  fingers. 

Illustration  to  right  is  made  safe  at  small  expense. 


FIGURE  60 


Circular  saw    (cross  section)    and  band  saw  for  woodworking  shop,  ar- 
ranged with  safety  devices   (red)   for  the  protection  of  worker's  limbs. 


PREVENTION    OF   ACCIDENTS 
FIGURE    6J 


115 


Special   safety  Landle   for  planing  short   pieces  of  wood   without  danger 
to  operator's  hands. 

FIGURE   62 


Emerywheels  with  protecting  safety  guards  and  wood  planer  with  de- 
vice which  protects  the  worker's  hands  from  contact  with  gears  and  re- 
volving knives._ 

FIGURE   63 


Woodworking  machine  without  and  with  safety  device.  A  sheet  iron 
guard  (red)  encloses  rapidly  revolving  cutters,  preventing  injury  to  at- 
tendant. 


116 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


But  let  no  one  imagine  that  the  most  effective  accident 
prevention  appliances  are  necessarily  found  on  complicated 
machines.  Small  pieces  of  rubber  or  lead  fastened  to  the 
ends  of  ladders  to  keep  them  from  slipping,  or  sharp  points 
for  the  same  purpose,  are  probably  the  most  effective  acci- 
dent prevention  devices  in  the  countr3\        • 


FIGURE   64 
SAFETY    FEET    FOR    LADDERS 


I 


Various  forms  of  attaching  rubber  tips  or  sharp  i^oints  to  ends  of  ladders 
to  keep  them  from  slipping. 


There  is  still  mucli  room  for  improvement,  as  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  falls  from  ladders  head  the  list  of  last 
year's  accidents. 


PREVENTION    OF   ACCIDENTS 


117 


FIGURE    65 
LADDERS   WITH    SAFETY   FEET 


Indicating  the  security  with  which  men  can  work  on  ladders  equipped  with 
safety  feet. 


Some  prevention  devices  are  so  simple  tliat,  much  like  a  simple 

Effectual 

Topsy  of  old,  they  seem  to  have  had  no  father  or  mother,  cover  for 
but  '^tliey  just  grew."  We  are  much  impressed  with  a  openings 
street  cover  which  is  used  in  Berlin  wherever  an  opening 
in  the  street  or  sidewalk  needs  a  removable  protection. 
We  have  not  found  it  anywhere  else,  and  no  one  seems  to 
pay  special  attention  to  its  existence.  It  was  not  exhibited 
in  any  one  of  the  safety  museums  we  have  visited,  but  any- 
one who  has  watched  the  number  of  injuries  caused  to  man 
and  beast  on  our  city  streets,  due  to  slipping  on  iron 
covers,  would  surely  advocate  the  general  adoption  of  this 
cover,  with  the  necessary  modifications,  in  all  American 
cities. 


118 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


FIGURE    66 


Many  accidents  to  man  and  beast  are  caused  by  slipping-  on  smooth  iron 
covers  on  our  city  streets  and  sidewalks. 

Illustration  to  the  right  shows   a  safety  cover  used   throughout  Berlin. 


Exhibitions    a 
Strong 
Pactor  in 
Accident 
Prevention 


Accident  Prevention  InMtutions 

Strong  factors  in  accident  prevention  on  tlie  Continent 
are  accident  prevention  institutions,  or  museums,  tliat  is, 
permanent  expositions,  usually  "working  exhibits"  of 
safety  appliances  for  tlie  industries  and  the  farm.  The 
oldest  one  of  tliese  institutions  is  in  Amsterdam.  It 
is  exceedingly  'interesting,  but  has  not  been  kept  up 
to  the  high  standard  of  newer  institutions.  We  are  told, 
how^ever,  that  recently  large  sums  of  money  have  been 
appropriated  by  the  city  and  state  for  the  erection  of  a 
new  building  and  for  new  equipment. 


PREVENTION  OF  ACCIDENTS 
FIGURES  67  and  68 


119 


Interior  views  of  old  Vienna  Accident  Prevention  Institution. 


120 


ACCIDENT    rKEVEXTION    AND    RELIEF 


FIGURE   69 


Exterior   view    of    Berlin    Safety    Museum    built    and    maintained    at    an 
expense  of  more  than  a  million  dollars  by  the  Imperial  Government. 


Prominent 
Institutions 
in   Europe 


Paris  has  a  working  exhibition  of  safety  appliance^. 
There  is  a  good  old  institution  of  this  kind  in  Vienna.  A 
new  museum,  for  which  the  money  is  on  hand,  is  being 
built  at  great  expense  on  a  site  opposite  the  imperial 
palace.  Budapest,  Hungary;  Milan,  Italy;  and  Zurich^ 
Switzerland,  have  accident  prevention  institutions,  but  the 
two  best  institutions  are  located  in  Berlin  and  Munich, 
Germany. 


PREVENTION  OF  ACCIDENTS 


121 


FIGURE   70 


Interior  view  of  Berlin  Safety  Museum. 


Both  of  these  museums  are  kept  up  to  date  at  all  times.  European 

Institutions 

The  latest  and  most  improved  safety  appliances  for  acci-  Kept  Fuiiy 

Up   to  Date 

dent,  as  well  as  sickness  prevention,  are  kept  on  exhibition 
and  are  explained  thoroughly  at  regular  hours  each  day 
by  competent  attendants.  Admission  is  free.  We  are 
told  by  good  authorities  that  the  keeping  up  of  the  Berlin 
institution  alone  costs  the  government  at  the  rate  of  25 
cents  per  visitor. 

Nearly  all  machinery  is  made  up  into  "running  ex- 
hibits" and  delegations  of  workmen,  foremen,  contractors, 
farmers  and  employers  from  all  parts  of  the  empire  are 


122 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 
FIGURES  7J  and  72 


Exterior  and  Interior  view  of  Munich  Institution. 


PREVENTION  OF  ACCIDENTS 


123 


FIGURE   73 


Safely   iiiciiiud   of  loadiug   aud   unloading   round   timber. 


encouraged  to  visit  the  Berlin  and  Munich  museums  for  state  Factory 

Inspectors 

instructive  demonstrations.     The  various  departments  of  Given  Yearly 

,,  T  1  1       i  1      n       i?  Demonstraticr.! 

the  museums  are  used  as  regular  lecture  halls  for  some 
of  the  colleges  and  the  factory  and  safety  inspectors  of 
the  country  are  brought  to  Berlin  regularly  for  a  week  or 
ten  dsLYs  each  year  to  receive  instruction  and  practical 
demonstration  regarding  the  year's  development  in  safe 
and  healthy  working  conditions  in  the  industries  and  upon 
the  farm. 

Among  the  thousands  of  safety  appliances  which  we  character  of 

Museum 

have  examined  in  the  safety  museums  and  in  the  factories  Exhibits 
of  the  Tontinent  many  are  very  simple;  others  are  very 


124 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND   RELIEF 


FIGURE    74 


Loading  and  unloading  scrap  iron  by  means  of  electro-magnets. 
More  efficient  and   much   safer  than   any  other  method   of  handling. 


Most  European 
Safety 
Appliances 
Known  in  the 
United    States 


complicated.  Some  are  very  practical;  others  are  not  at 
all  adaptable  to  our  industries  or  our  way  of  doing  things. 
It  would  require  a  large  volume  fo  give  even  a  super- 
ficial impression  on  this  subject,  and  after  explaining  every 
safety  device  or  prevention  appliance  which  we  have  seen 
or  heard  of  in  our  investigation,  we  would  probably  be 
told  by  some  experts  that  there  is  little  that  is  new  among 
them.  Most  of  these  appliances  are  known  somewhere  in 
the  United  States.  Many  of  these  devices  have  been  illus- 
trated in  the  literature  of  American  insurance  companies. 
One  of  our  best  prevention  experts  tells  us  that  during  a 
recent  investigation  tour  in  one  of  the  European  countries 
he  was  shown  "the  best  and  latest"  safety  device  for  punch 


PREVENTION  OF  ACCIDENTS 


125 


FIGURE    75 


Safe  handling  of  steel  plates  and  beams. 


126 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND    RELIEF 


FIGURE    76 


Safety  devices  for  handling  white  hot  metal   in  rolling  mills. 


Prevention 
Spirit  Most 
Desirable 


presses,  Avliicli  he  immediately  recognized  as  a  patented 
invention  of  his  own,  which  has  had  a  limited  use  in  the 
United  States  for  many  years. 

A  number  of  American  employers  are  making  praise- 
worthy efforts  in  safeguarding  their  factories,  as  may  be 
learned  from  the  Appendix  to  this  volume. 

Undoubtedly  many  prevention  appliances  in  use  in 
Germany  might  well  be  adopted  here,  but  the  real  and  im- 
portant difference  is  not  in  prevention  apparatus — it  is  in 
the  prevention  spirit.  In  Europe,  and  especially  in  Ger- 
many, accident  prevention  is  kept  constantly  before  the 


PREVENTION    OF   ACCIDENTS 


127 


FIGURE    77 


Asbestos  protection  for  workers  handling  crucible  of  molten  metal. 


public,  before  tlie  le.i>islatui'es,  before  the  employers,  and  Extent  of 
before  the  workers.  It  is  taught  the  children  at  school;  in'terest'^ 
the  colleges  devote  much  time  to  it.  Trade  schools  and 
similar  institutions  have  special  courses  in  the  science  of 
accident  prevention.  Insurance  rates  are  gauged  accord- 
ing to  the  state  of  accident  prevention  practiced  in  indi- 
vidual shops,  and  the  leaders  in  industrial,  political  and 
economic  life,  instead  of  quarreling  as  to  where  the  blame 
for  accidents  should  be  placed,  combine  and  concentrate 
their  efforts  upon  an  educational  and  practical  accident 
prevention  campaign. 


128 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 


X 


FIGURE   78 


riiotograpli  of  a  gruesome  exhibit  at  the  Vieiiua  Museum. 
Showing  decayed  jaw   bones,   the   result   of  phosphorus  poisoning. 


Standard 

Machinery 

Compulsory 


A  very  effective  feature  of  the  German  accident  preven- 
tion program  is  provided  by  the  adoption  of  standard 
specifications  for  all  types  of  machinery.  Expert  preven- 
tion engineers  draft  such  specifications,  and  after  their 
adoption  by  employers'  associations  such  specifications 
are  insisted  upon  in  the  purchase  of  all  future  machinery 
by  members  of  the  association. 


CHAPTER   SEVEN 

Cost  of  Accident  Compensation  in  Germany  in  Comparison 
witk  Similar  Rates  in  tLe  United  States 


CHAPTER  VII 

Cost  of  Accident  Compensation  Insurance  in  Germany 

IN  Comparison  with  Some  Rates  in  the 

United  States 

Some  enthusiasts  would  tell  us  that  equitable  compensa- 
tion would  cost  less  than  our  present  employers'  liability 
system.  If  we  take  into  consideration  harmony,  human 
happiness,  health  and  whole  bodies,  there  is  no  answer 
to  such  an  argument,  because  money  cannot  buy  these 
things,  nor  can  money  compensate  for  their  loss.     How-  German 

Insurance 

ever,  the  cost  in  dollars  and  cents  of  an  equitable  com-  Rates  Higher 

than   Ours 

pensation  scheme,  as  expressed  in  insurance  rates,  is  much 
higher  than  our  present  employers'  liability  method.  This, 
at  least,  has  been  Germany's  experience,  and  we  cannot 
hope  to  ever  have  a  more  efficient  system  than  Germany 
has  now,  as  shown  in  various  diagrams  on  other  pages. 

We  have  gathered  the  rates  of  insurance  in  several 
thousand  occupations,  but  the  average  man  is  more  inter- 
ested in  the  cost  of  compensation  insurance  for  a  certain 

131 


132 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Meaning  of 

Lines  on 
Diagrams  on 
Pages  Follow- 
ing 


group.  For  illustration:  The  proprietor  of  a  machine 
shop  wants  to  know  what  percentage  of  the  pay  roll  must 
be  paid  for  all  of  his  employes.  The  rate  for  a  certain  kind 
of  machine  operator  is  of  secondary  importance.  The  fol- 
lowing pages  give  a  record  for  all  the  industrial  and  agri- 
cultural groups.  The  black  lines  indicate  the  actual  cost 
of  insurance  which  German  employers  are  paying  now, 
and  have  paid  since  the  beginning  of  the  system,  that  is, 
1886  in  most  cases.  The  red  lines  show  the  record  of  in- 
jured workers  in  each  industrial  group  since  the  existing 
scheme  was  started.  You  will  note  that  the  curves  of  al- 
most all  industrial  groups  show  a  tendency  toward  more 
rapid  increase  between  the  years  1898  and  1902.  This  is 
due  to  increased  requirements  regarding  reserve  funds. 
Most  of  the  diagrams  have  been  placed  so  as  to  become 
impressive  by  contrast.  All  diagrams  and  figures  have 
been  prepared  by  experienced  government  statisticians 
and  many  of  the  most  important  ones  under  the  consulting 
supervision  of  Prof.  Dr.  Manes. 

Before  proceeding  to  illustrate  group  rates,  let  us  show 
how  extreme  the  differences  in  insurance  premiums  are  in 
a  single  group. 


COMPARISON   OF   INSURANCE   RATES 
FIGURE    79 


133 


Hazard 
Figure 

Occupation                  ^^^^  per  $100.  pay  roll. 

•^                                       1    2   3  4   5  6   7   8  9  10  II   12  13  1^ 

.1 

Floor  Polishers.  Architects.                                             ■ 

$    .18 

2.5 

Paperhangers.                                                              1 

a^ 

3.3 

Stove  Setters.                                                                   ■ 

58 

4.5 

GUziers.  Cabinetmakers.                                                H 

.79 

5.2 

Painters.                                                                           H 

92 

5.7 

Brick  Yard  Workers.                                                      ^B 

101 

5.9 

Asphalt  and  Cement  Workers.  Sfone  and  Tile         ■■ 
Layers.                                                                         ^H 

1.04 

6.1 

Stone  Masons.  Stone  Breakers,  Plasterers,  Plaster        BBn 
and  Cement  Casting  Establishments,  Arbficial        ^H 
Stone  Factory                                                                 ^B 

U8 

7. 

Carrying  Building  Material,  Hod  Carriers,  Tin-         bafa 
smiths.  Locksmiths.  Blacksmiths,  Housesmiths.         ^^M 
Plumbers,  Gas,  Water  and  Steam  Fitters.                    HH 

,1.24 

a 

Mortar  Mixers.                                                             ^^H 

141 

9. 

Window  Cleaners.                                                       ^^H 

L62 

11. 

Passenger  Vehicles,  Buggies,  etc.                                   ^^H 

194 

12. 

Yards  seUing  new  buUding  n^tenaJ,  Bricklayers,          ^^^H 
Building  Contractors,  Carpenters,  Stackers.                   I^^^^l 

212 

13. 

^^^1 

2.30 

16. 

Underground    Work,    Sand.   Gravel   and   Clay          ^^|H 

2.83 

20. 

^^^^^^1 

3.53 

24. 

^^^^^^H 

4.24 

27. 

'    Lightning  Rod  Makers  and  Installers.  Roofers.         ^^^^^^^^| 

4.77 

31. 

Welt  Diggers.  Stone  Blasting,  Quanies.                       ^^^^^^^^1 

5.47 

^3. 

up  and  taking  down  scaffolding.                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^H 

• 

7.59 

45. 

Attending  to  and  operating  steam  engines,  boil-           L|||1|||1||||||||1_J||^^^ 
ers  and  other  machinery,  except  wood-working          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H 
machines.                                                                          H^HBI^B^Hl^^^^^^H 

■^ 

7.95 

62. 

to    and    operating    wood-working           H||^H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H 

10.95 

76. 

Wreck-ng  buildings  and  ships,  yards  for  second.          ^h||||||||||||||||||||||||^_ 
hand  buildir^g  material.                                                 PHHHHVVHPI 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

L 

1342 

Averajje  for  the  whole  ^roup.  m 

_ 

. 

__ 

$2.25 

German  insurance  rates  for  1909. 

Building    trades    industry.     Employers'    Mutual    Association    for 
western   Germany,   Section  No.  1. 


North- 


134 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


TWENTY-TWO    YEARS'   GERMAN    HISTORY    OF    INJURED 

WORKERS  AND  INSURANCE  RATES  FOR  VARIOUS 

INDUSTRIAL    GROUPS 

FIGURE   80 

TEAMING    INDUSTRY 


/as6.   jdso  /ss>4  issd    .jsaz  ^^i^M 

^ 

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FIGURE   8J 
FLOUR    MILL    INDUSTRY 


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Black  lines  indicate  insurance  rates  per  $100  pay  roll. 

Red   lines   indicate   number   of   injured   per   1000   insured   workmen. 


COMPARISON   OF   INSURANCE   RATES 


135 


TWENTY-TWO    YEARS'  GERMAN    HISTORY    OF    INJURED 

WORKERS  AND  INSURANCE  RATES  FOR  VARIOUS 

INDUSTRIAL   GROUPS 

FIGURE   82 

RIVER   AND    LAKE    NAVIGATION 


jsss  Jd.^0   /ss^  ysss  ^^ya^    /^sjyas.X 

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3 

- 

^ 

^ 

^ 

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FIGURE   83 
BREWING   AND    MALTING   INDUSTRY 


ys3s   y^c*-^    /s^^    /sss  ip^z  /^i?<$-j9oa\ 

4 

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p 

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— 

— 

— 

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— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

L— 

u. 

_ 

Black  lines  indicate  insurance  rates  per  $100  pay  roll. 

Red  lines  indicate  number  of  injured  per  1000  insured  workmen. 


136 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


TWENTY-TWO    YEARS'   GERMAN    HISTORY    OF    INJURED 

WORKERS  AND  INSURANCE  RATES  FOR  VARIOUS 

INDUSTRIAL   GROUPS 

FIGURE    84 

AGRICULTURAL  AND  HORTICULTURAL 


f666      /890     /<9^     m8     me     /sos^sos,  1 

z 

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s 

1. 

I 

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s 

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o 

- 

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- 

- 

- 

- 

2 

'^ 

♦The  heavy  drop  in  insurance  rates  between  lOOG  and  1008  and  in  in- 
jured workers  is  due  to  a  census  or  recount  of  the  farm  population  and  does 
not  necessarily  indicate  such  an  improvement  as  the  curve  would  suggest. 
Another  uncertainty  in  this  chart  was  brought  about  by  the  necessity  of 
estimating  farm  wages,  as  no  reliable  statistics  are  at  hand  in  this  field. 

FIGURE  85 
TOBACCO    INDUSTRY 


/see     /S90     /SS4      /ess      /saz     /m  ma   1 

z 

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. 

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— 

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FIGURE  86 
DAIRY,    DISTILLING   AND    STARCH    INDUSTRIES 


me     mo     /8H     /8S6    /S02      jm-^m  1 

z 

/ 

- 

^ 

— 

^ 

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^ 

o 

t 

^ 

.. 

M 

1. 

V 

— 

— 

Black  lines  indicate  insurance  rates  per  .$100  pay  roll. 

Red  lines   indicate   number  of   injured   per   1000   insured   workmen. 


COMPARISON   OF   INSURANCE   RATES 


137 


TWENTY-TWO    YEARS'   GERMAN    HISTORY    OF    INJURED 

WORKERS  AND  INSURANCE  RATES  FOR  VARIOUS 

INDUSTRIAL   GROUPS 

FIGURE  87 
CLOTHING    INDUSTRY 


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m 

m 

m 

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1 

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a 

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FIGURE  88 
QUARRY   INDUSTRY 


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FIGURE   89 
TEXTILE    INDUSTRY 


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z 

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— 

1 

— 

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0 

^ 

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1 

z 

z 

z 

^ 

!? 

Black  lines  indicate  insurance  rates  per  $100  pay  roll. 

Red  lines   indicate   number  of   injured   per   1000  insured   workmen. 


138 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


TWENTY-TWO    YEARS'  GERMAN    HISTORY    OF    INJURED 

WORKERS  AND  INSURANCE  RATES  FOR  VARIOUS 

INDUSTRIAL   GROUPS 

FIGURE    90 
SUGAR   INDUSTRY 


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z 

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FIGURE  9J 
PRINTING   INDUSTRY 


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1 

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FIGURE  92 
BUILDING   TRADES    INDUSTRY 


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Black  lines  Indicate  insurance  rates  per  $100  pay  roll. 
Red  lines  indicate  number  of  injured  per  1000  insured  workmen. 


COMPARISON    OF    INSURANCE    RATES 


139 


TWENTY-TWO    YEARS*  GERMAN    HISTORY    OF    INJURED 

WORKERS  AND  INSURANCE  RATES  FOR  VARIOUS 

INDUSTRIAL   GROUPS 

FIGURE  93 
MANUFACTURE    OF    PAPER   ARTICLES 


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FIGURE  94 
PAPER   MAKING   INDUSTRY 


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FIGURE   95 
POTTERY   INDUSTRY 


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Black  lines  indicate  insurance  rates  per  $100  pay  roll. 

Red   lines   indicate   number  of  injured   per   1000  insured   workmen. 


140 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND   RELIEF 


TWENTY-TWO    YEARS'  GERMAN    HISTORY    OF    INJURED 

WORKERS  AND  INSURANCE  RATES  FOR  VARIOUS 

INDUSTRIAL   GROUPS 

FIGURE   96 
SEA   NAVIGATION  AND  FISHERIES 


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FIGURE  97 
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FIGURE   98 
EXCAVATING   AND   TUNNELING 


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Black  lines  indicate  insurance  rates  pel  $100  pay  roll. 
Red   lines   indicate   number   of   injured   per   1000   insured    workmen. 


COMPARISON   OF   INSURANCE   RATES 


141 


TWENTY-TWO    YEARS'  GERMAN    HISTORY    OF    INJURED 

WORKERS  AND  INSURANCE  RATES  FOR  VARIOUS 

INDUSTRIAL   GROUPS 

FIGURE  99 
GLASS   INDUSTRY 


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FIGURE  JOO 
WOODWORKING   INDUSTRY 


me       /890       /694      ms       /SOO      m6-f908\ 

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FIGURE    \^\ 
MECHANICAL  AND  ELECTRICAL  INDUSTRIES 


me      /sso      /SS4      /s^e      /so^     /sos-jsoe  \ 

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gi 

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Black  lines  indicate  insurance  rates  per  $100  pay  roll. 

Red  lines  indicate  number  of  injured  per  1000  insured   workmen. 


142 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 


TWENTY-TWO     YEARS'   GERMAN    HISTORY    OF    INJURED 

WORKERS  AND   INSURANCE   RATES  FOR  VARIOUS 

INDUSTRIAL    GROUPS 

FIGURE  J02* 
STATE    RAILWAYS,    MAIL   AND   TELEGRAPH    SERVICE 


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f— 

*Tlie  wage  rate  is  estimated. 


FIGURE    J03 
FOOD    AND    CANNING   INDUSTRY 


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CHEMICAL    INDUSTRY 


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Black  lines  indicate  insurance  rates  per  $100  pay  roll. 

Red  lines   indicate   number  of  injured   per   1000   insured   workmen. 


COMPARISON    OF   INSURANCE   RATES 


143 


TWENTY-TWO     YEARS'  GERMAN    HISTORY    OF    INJURED 

WORKERS  AND  INSURANCE  RATES  FOR  VARIOUS 

INDUSTRIAL  GROUPS 

FIGURE  J05 
MANUFACTURE    OF    MUSICAL   INSTRUMENTS 


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FIGURE  J06 
MINING    INDUSTRY 


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FIGURE    J07 
WAREHOUSE    INDUSTRY 


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Black  lines  indicate  insurance  rates  per  $100  pay  roll. 

Red  lines   indicate   number  of  injured  per  1000  insured   workmen. 


144 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


TWENTY-TWO    YEARS'   GERMAN    HISTORY    OF    INJURED 

WORKERS  AND  INSURANCE  RATES  FOR  VARIOUS 

INDUSTRIAL   GROUPS 

FIGURE    JOS 

STREET    AND    INTERURBAN    RAILWAYS 


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FIGURE  m 
BRICK    MAKING   INDUSTRY 


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FIGURE  no 
LEATHER   INDUSTRY 


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Black  lines  indicate  insurance  rates  per  $100  pay  roll. 

Red  lines  indicate  number  of  injured  per  1000  insured   workmen. 


COMPARISON   OF   INSURANCE   RATES 


145 


TWENTY-TWO    YEARS'   GERMAN    HISTORY    OF    INJURED 

WORKERS  AND  INSURANCE  RATES  FOR  VARIOUS 

INDUSTRIAL   GROUPS 

FIGURE  UX 
PRIVATE    RAILWAYS 


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FIGURE  n2 
IRON   AND    STEEL    INDUSTRY 


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FIGURE    nZ 
GAS   AND   WATERWORKS 


me       /8S0      m4      /ssa      m2     /m-/m.  1 

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Black  lines  indicate  insurance  rates  per  $100  pay  roll. 

Red  lines  indicate  number  of  injured  per  1000  insured   workmen. 


146 


ACCIDENT    PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Rates  in 
Germany 
Higher 
than  in 
Eng-land 


It  will  be  seen  that  most  of  these  insurance  rates  are 
extremely  high  as  compared  with  employers'  liability  in- 
surance rates  in  the  United  States.  In  fact,  German  rates 
are  higher  than  present  workers'  indemnity  insurance  rates 
in  England,  especially  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  the  Ger- 
man insurance  system  provides  only  for  a  small  portion 
of  deferred  payments.  Each  year's  assessment  covers  the 
actual  cost  of  that  year,  plus  approximately  10  per  cent 
for  reserve  fund,  consequently  the  cost  will  increase  each 
year  because  the  new  permanent  injuries  are  added  each 
year  to  the  existing  old  ones. 

We  have  asked  a  number  of  prominent  men  what  the 
final  and  permanent  cost  of  insurance  will  be.  While  this 
is  a  difficult  question  to  answer  accurately.  Prof.  Dr. 
Manes  gave  us  the  estimate  which  is  illustrated  in  the 
black  line  in  Figure  114. 

FIGURE   IH 

INSURANCE    COST    IN    GERMANY   FOR   ALL   INDUSTRIES 

COMBINED 


AfSS  S(?  S4  SS/mm^/O  /4-   /S  2Z  26  30-/S35\ 

^ 

3 

-^ 

Z 

.•••' 

.•* 

0*' 

%^^ 

I 

J 

^ 

— ^ 

*  * 

0 

c. 

- 

^^m 

Black  full  line — insurance  cost  in  percentage  of  pay  roll  to  date  for  all 
occupations  combined. 

Black  dotted  line — estimated  cost  to  maximum    (1035). 

Red  line — accidents  per  hundred  insured  workers,  all  occupations  combined. 


COMPARISON   OF   INSURANCE   RATES  147 

The  full  line  beginning  at  1886  and  ending  at  1908 
gives  the  cost  of  insurance  for  all  industries  combined  in 
percentage  of  pay  roll.  The  dotted  line  is  the  estimated 
cost  up  to  a  maximum  and  permanent  point,  which  is  sup- 
posed to  be  1935,  that  is  fifty  years  after  the  inaugura- 
tion day  of  the  workers'  accident  compensation  insurance 
system.  The  cost  in  1908  is  1.75  per  cent,  in  1906,  1.725 
per  cent,  in  1902  it  is  1.73  per  cent.  The  six  year  period 
consequently  shows  very  little  change. 

A  number  of  experienced  officials  of  employers'  as- 
sociations feel  that  Dr.  Manes'  estimate  of  nearly  double 
the  present  cost  is  too  high,  but  other  equally  good  men 
consider  the  figure  very  conservative.  If  we  consider  the 
estimate  as  correct  it  would  mean  that  in  order  to  cover 
deferred  payments  we  must  practically  double  each  one  of 
the  insurance  rates  shown  on  the  preceding  pages. 

We  have  asked  a  number  of  German  scientists:  How  Germany's 

Policy  Is 

do  you  explain  the  higher  cost  of  your  system  w^hen  you  to  increase 

.  the  Worker's 

claim,  and  with  good  reason,  higher  all-around  working  Efficiency 
efficiency  than  other  nations?  Their  answer  is  always 
the  same,  namely:  ^^We  do  more  for  the  injured  work- 
ers." Substantially  they  tell  you  this:  ''We  are  not 
building  for  one  year  or  ten  years;  we  are  building  for 
centuries.  Believing  in  the  'survival  of  the  fittest,'  we  are 
building  up  a  nation  fit  to  win  in  international  competi- 
tion. We  believe  it  is  a  paying  proposition  for  us  to  spend 
more  money  than  other  nations  for  our  incapacitated  work- 
ers. For  humane  as  well  as  for  business  reasons  it  is  good 
policy.  But  please  note  that  we  are  spending  our  money, 
not  in  life  pensions  to  slightly  disabled  workers,  nor  in 
old  age  pensions  to  persons  who  can  prove  that  they  are 


Beneficial 
Influence  of 
Social 
Insurance 


English 
Views   of  the 
German 
System 


148  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

paupers.  We  believe  such  a  course  would  manufacture 
paupers  and  invalids.  We  spend  our  money  with  the 
workers'  money  in  every  endeavor  that  is  calculated  to 
promote  their  efficiency  or  capacity.  We  spend  lots  of 
money  voluntarily  and  in  addition  to  our  insurance  pre- 
miums to  mend  as  much  as  possible,  and  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible, the  injured  worker's  ills,  so  that  he  may  again  be- 
come a  producing  member,  instead  of  a  consuming  member, 
of  the  nation."  We  have  many  letters  from  prominent 
employers  and  presidents  of  their  respective  industrial 
organizations  expressing  the  above  views  and  their  con- 
viction that  the  average  German  worker  is  more  efficient 
today  on  account  of  being  relieved  from  worry  and  fear 
of  accidents  and  sickness.  This  relief  work  seems  to  have 
a  favorable  effect  not  only  on  the  worker,  but  also  upon 
his  family.  Medical  authorities  claim  that  the  height  and 
fitness  of  the  young  men  who  are  examined  for  military 
service  is  improving  constantly  and  that  this  is  in  a  large 
measure  due  to  25  years  of  social  insurance. 

Nor  is  this  impression  of  German  efficiency  confined  to 
Germans.  England  has  sent  a  dozen  or  more  commissions 
into  Germany  in  the  last  year  to  study  industrial  condi- 
tions. All  of  them  speak  highly  in  their  reports  about 
German  industrial  efficiency.  We  quote  a  small  part  of 
the  report  of  one  of  the  most  critical  English  commissions, 
which  consisted  of  members  of  the  Labor  Party  and  Trade 
Union  Commission: 

"One  effect  of  all  this  public  and  voluntary  organ- 
ization is  to  prevent  the  hideous  open  social  sores 
with  which  we  in  Great  Britain  are  so  familiar  in 
the  streets  of  our  larsje  cities.     There  are  certainly 


COMPARISON    OF   INSURANCE   RATES  149 

poor  in  Germany,  many  more  than  in  England. 
But  there  are  few  so  utterly  broken  on  the  wheel 
of  misfortune  as  those  who  are  allowed  with  us  to 
wander  about  parading  their  sores  and  propagating 
their  kind. 

"To  sum  up  on  this  first  point,  it  seems  to  us  that 
Germany,  individually  and  collectively,  is  realizing 
itself  and  organizing  itself.  True,  it  is  largely  by 
bureaucratic  methods.  What  effect  this  may  have 
ultimately,  or  may  have  had  already,  on  individual 
character,  as  well  as  upon  home  life,  we  are  not  in 
a  position  to  say;  but  we  are  convinced  that  it  is 
having  a  considerable  effect  at  present  in  increasing 
the  productive  efficiency  of  the  nation.  In  short, 
it  is  brains,  and  not  tariffs,  that  account  for  Ger- 
many's wonderful  progress  in  the  world.'' 
Even  in  France,  where  ordinarily  anything  German  French 

'  J  .;  »  Views  of  the 

finds  but  little  consideration,  the  German   social  insur-  German 

System 

ance  system  is  admired.  Edouard  Fuster,  of  Paris,  one  of 
the  greatest  social  insurance  experts  in  the  world,  is 
quoted  as  saying: 

"The  money  which  Germany  is  devoting  to  social 
insurance  reappears  in  a  thousand  forms.  It  pro- 
motes happiness  of  the  family,  health  and  self-re- 
spect.   It  makes  for  a  strong,  enduring  nation  and 
for  international  supremacy." 
But  however  beautiful   sentiment  may  be  we  are  a 
practical  nation.     We  are  business  men  first  and  altruists 
second.     We  can,  and  must,  do  as  well  for  our  workers 
as  any  nation  in  the  world,  but  we  must  not  forget  that 
the  average  worker  has  a  far  better  chance  here  than  in 


150 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Comparison 
of  German 
with  English 
and  American 
Insurance 


Germany  or  any  other  European  country.  It  may  be 
desirable  and  possible  to  inaugurate  a  relief  system  as  ef- 
ficient as  the  German  with  lower  compensation  and  lower 
cost.  On  this  assumption  we  had  prepared  a  comparative 
estimate  of  German,  English  and  American  compensation 
insurance  values  and  here  is  the  result: 

Estimated  Value  of  German  vs.  English  and  American 
Accident  Compensation  Insurance.  (By  Prof.  Dr.  Alfred 
Manes. )  — 

"Free  medical  treatment  and  continuous  pay- 
ments to  the  family  of  a  workman  killed  by  accident 
in  Germany  are  lacking  both  in  America  and  Eng- 
land. 

"If  German  accident  insurance  only  did  what  is 

done  by  American  private  insurance   ( Co. 

policy  1910,)  it  would,  in  my  estimation,  be  from  SS 
to  66  per  cent  cheaper  than  it  is  today;  if  restricted 
to  the  English  benefits  it  would  be  from  25  to  J/0 
per  cent  cheaper.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  American 
or  English  insurance  were  to  do  exactly  the  same 
that  is  done  by  the  German  employers'  association 
for  the  injured  workman  or  his  family,  the  premium 
of  American  insurance  would  have  to  be  raised  hy 
at  least  100  per  cent^  possibly  even  hy  150  per 
cent,  while  those  of  English  insurance  would  have 
to  be  increased  ahqnt  50  to  100  per  cent. 

"The  comparison  can  only  be  of  an  approximate 
nature;  an  exact  comparison  is  hardly  possible  ow- 
ing to  the  numerous  differences  in  regard  to  details." 
However,  at  best  this  is  only  an  estimate,  and  experi- 
ence is  necessary  to  prove  estimates  correct.     We  were  in 


COMPARISON   OF   INSURANCE   RATES 


151 


close  touch  with  insurance  concerns  before  our  departure 
for  Europe,  and  have  been  since  our  return  to  the  states. 
We  have  compared  insurance  rates  before  and  since  the 
enactment  of  the  New  York  compensation  law.  Com- 
parison in  a  few  schedules  is  startling. 

FIGURE  J.J5 

INSURANCE    RATES    IN    NEW    YORK   BEFORE  AND  AFTER 

ENACTMENT   OF   LAW    OF   1910. 

Per  $100.00  Pay  Roll. 


2    , 

5   - 

1- 

5    ( 

& 

7 

3   ! 

) 

CHEMICAL  SCHEDULE           g  .  ^^  L 
Acid  Manufactures     .T^^"^  E 

Increase  38%      ^^^^^    ■ 

' 

$.81 
1.12 

Aereated  Water          .  f^"^^  E 

Increase  39%.        '^     F" 

' 

1.62 
2.25 

RMii  niN<^  TDAnr*?                            L 

2.47 
5.00 

BUILDING  TRADES                 ^^^^^  ^^1 

Carpenters               After  EBm 

Increase   \U^%                   P^ 

Z75 
&25 

^QforemttM 

1  lasona                     ^^.^^^  kUta^^H 

Increase  12/%                   p 

Painters                    before  ■ 

1.75 
5.00 

ruiric^ro                                    ...          HHHiH 

Increase  186%         '          ^H 

PinpFif+Pr«;                  Before  ■! 

135 

6.25 

Kipehtters              ^^^^^11 

HVP 

1 

Increase  362%                  ^ 

III 

This  increase  brings  New  York  insurance  rates  for  insurance 

Rates  in 

compensation  above  the  German  rates,  and  we  have  every  New  York 
reason  to  believe  that  present  New  York  rates  will  have  to 
be  increased  materially.     On  the  other  hand,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  the  efficiency  is  any  greater  than  it  was  under  the 


152 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


old  law,  SO  that  the  average  injured  worker  and  his  depend 
ents  receive  no  larger  share  of  the  employer's  payments. 
A  comparison  of  insurance  rates  now  paid  in   New 
York  with  those  paid  in  Germany  for  the  same  industries 
is  made  in  the  following  figure. 

FIGURE    n6 

COMPARISON  OF  COMPENSATION  INSURANCE  RATES  IN  THE 

STATE  OF  NEW  YORK  AND  GERMANY. 

Per  $100.00  Pay  Roll. 

123456789 


CnrDcntci's             ^^•''"^V  F^*^  ^* 

$257 
5j00. 

v.arpcnxcr5             New  York  WatelBB^ 

.,-,-„-                   German  RateM[ 

1.43 
6.25 

mooonj                    New  York  Ratelill^™ 

■I 

Painters                  dermsn  RateB 

1.12 

5.00 

ramtcrs                  New  York  Ratell^^ 

PlumbPi-                German  Rate ■ 

150 

(3.25' 

HlumbefS                  New  York  RateM 

■ 

1 

Staam&PiDeRtters  ^^'''"^"  ■^^telt 

150 

6.25 

Dt.amfcnpcrittcrc    New  York  W;,tpB^^^ 

1 

rnsl  MmoKc               German  Rai:e|BL  ^ 

r  t.oo 
7.20 

Coal  Mmci  c              ^^^  y^^^  u.fp^B^H 

— 1   1    1   1   1   1   1    1- 

Insurance 
Rates  in 
Ohio 


The  State  of  Ohio  enacted  an  Increased  Employers' 
Liability  Law  a  year  ago  which,  however,  is  expected  to 
be  replaced  with  a  Compensation  Act  at  this  year's  session 
of  the  legislature.  This  Ohio  Act  also  increased  insur- 
ance rates  very  materially  as  is  demonstrated  in  Figure 
117. 


COMPARISON   OF   INSURANCE   RATES 


153 


FIGURE    n? 
INSURANCE     RATES     IN     OHIO^     BEFORE     AND     AFTER     ENACT- 
MENT OF  LAW  OF    1910 

Per  $100.00   Pay   Roll 


1 

File  Workers                ^-I      L 

Increase  fOOK           f          F 

2 

.    i 

< 

^ 

^ 

i 

k  ^ 

$.22 
,44 

Lumber  Yar»ds                *-?      C 

Increase  63%       ^T^®*"  P 

1 

.60 
I.IO 

Provision  Merchants    Aflgjl^^fi 

Increase  128%         T          P 

1 

.60 
1.57 

Box  Manufacturers     a^°   j 

Increase  150%                       \ 

■ 

JO 

175 

Plasterers                    A«°'^tl 

Increase  30%       ^P®*^  ^¥ 

1.00 

1.50 

r           1                        Beforetaii 
Carpenters                 ^.^^^  S 

Increase  2>3%           '            ^1 

' 

I.P5 
2.57 

Mason  Contractors     ^ J^^ 

Increase  26%             ' 

150 
3.15 

1 

Concrete  Construction  y^X^. 

Increase  110%           ' 

2.50 
525 

5.26 
730 

Before 

Structural  Iron  Workers  Afier 

Increase  4-6% 

u         yu      t'                Before 

HouseWrecking         After 

Increase  100% 

g 

g 

g 

5.00 

10.00 

■ 

154 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Insurance 
Legislation 
Demands  our 
Attention 


A  comparison  of  the  insurance  rates  which  are  il- 
lustrated in  the  last  pages  would  impress  every  employer 
and  every  legislator  with  the  necessity  of  careful  con- 
sideration of  new  legislation.  We  should  act  as  rapidly 
as  is  compatible  with  the  greatness  and  complexity  of 
the  subject.  We  must  proceed  in  a  consti^ctive  and  not 
a  pessimistic  spirit,  but  unless  we  give  due  consideration 
to  every  phase  of  the  subject,  we  shall  only  retard  instead 
of  hastening  the  final  equitable  solution  of  the  great 
problem. 


CHAPTER   EIGHT 

Employers    Liability  m  Great  Britain  Prior  to  the 
Compensation  Acts 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Employers^  Liability  in  Great  Britain  Prior  to  the 
Compensation  Acts 

We  will  now  turn  from  the  remarkable  system  and 
recorded  experience  of  Germany  to  consider  the  compen- 
sation principle  as  embodied  in  the  law  of  Great  Britain. 
Our  entire  legal  system  rests  upon  an  English  base,  and 
we  turn  with  natural  interest  and  curiosity  to  the  spec- 
tacle presented  by  the  introduction  of  novel  theories  and 
practices  into  a  proverbially  conservative  system  of  law 
hitherto  closely  akin  to  our  own  in  form  and  administra- 
tion. 

It  is  from  the  English  common  law  we  derive  the  English 

Common  Law 

fundamentals  of  our  prevailinc]^  doctrine  of  employers'  the  Baais  of 

^  ^  our    Present 

liability.     The  statutes  of  our  states  reflected  the  modifi- Liability  Laws 

cations    enacted   by   the   British    Parliament.     It   would 

therefore  seem  that  by  briefly  reviewing  the  liability  of 

the  employer  in  Great  Britain  before  the  recognition  of 

the  compensatory  principle,  we  may  more  clearly  realize 

the  character  and  extent  of  the  change  it  effected,  and  we 

are  in   a  better  position   to   measure  the  consequences 

which  would  flow  from  similar  action  within  our  own 

states. 

1S7 


158 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Employer   and 
Employe 
Under   the 
Common  Law 


Development 
of  the 
Liability  Laws 


In  the  eyes  of  the  common  law  the  relation  of  the 
employer  and  workman,  or,  as  it  was  usually  termed,  that 
of  "master  and  servant,"  was  one  of  contract  arising  out 
of  the  agreement  of  one  to  give,  the  other  to  compensate, 
service.     The  development  of  the  common  law  theory  of 
that  relationship  represents  the  continuous  effort  of  suc- 
cessive courts  and  judges,  through  long  periods  of  time 
and  many  changes  of  condition,  to  construe  that  contract 
in  accordance  with  the  circumstances  of  employment  and 
society  in  which  the  employer  and  workman   made  it. 
Thus,   during  many  centuries,   the  liability  of  the  em- 
ployer for  injuries  received  in  the  course  of  employment 
was  defined,  not  by  an  Act  of  Parliament,  but  by  judicial 
interpretation  of  the  contract  of  service.     Toward  the 
middle  of  the  19th  century  Parliament  for  the  first  time 
undertook  to  remedy  certain  defects  and  hardships  aris- 
ing in  the  course  of  the  administration  of  the  common 
law  by  reading  into  the  contract  of  service  new  terms  of 
liability  placed  there  from  considerations  of  public  policy 
and  justice  to  the  workman.     To  this  secondary  stage  of 
the    development    of    employers'    liability    belong    those 
various  statutes  passed  from  time  to  time  during  the  half 
century   immediately   preceding   the   first   Compensation 
Act. 

This  statutory  liability,  modifying  and  extending  or 
sometimes  merely  defining  the  obligations  of  the  common 
law,  was  repeatedly  copied  into  the  legislation  of  our 
states  and  set  on  foot  the  restless  movement  with  which 
we  have  become  so  familiar,  and  which  from  year  to 
year,  in  accordance  with  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  state 
legislatures,  has  either  imposed  increasing  duties  upon 


EMPLOYERS    LIABILITY  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN  159 

the  employer  or  qualified  or  removed  in  corresponding 
measure  his  former  defenses  at  the  common  law. 

Years  ago  Lord  Herschell  epitomized  the  master's  an- 
cient duty  to  his  employes  in  this  brief  statement:  "The 
employer  is  bound  at  common  law  to  carry  on  his  busi- 
ness so  as  not  to  expose  workmen  to  unreasonable  risks." 
Out  of  the  delicate  undertaking  involved  in  ascertaining  in 
each  case  the  character  of  the  reciprocal  duties  of  the  em- 
ployer and  assumed  risks  of  the  employe  arises  the 
variety  of  technical  difficulties  with  which  the  application 
of  the  law  of  negligence  has  made  us  familiar. 

In  the  elder  day,  an  employer,  like  all  other  persons,  obligation 

Under  the 

was  under  the  broad,  elementary  obligation  to  so  use  his  common 

Law 

property  and  conduct  himself  as  not  to  cause  injury  to 
others.  This  obligation  rested  upon  him  with  respect  to 
those  who  entered  his  service  not  less  than  to  those  who 
were  outside  of  it.  The  employer  at  the  common  law 
was,  at  all  times,  liable  to  his  employe,  even  as  to  a 
stranger,  for  the  consequences  of  injury  caused  by  his 
personal  negligence  or  his  failure  to  perform  any  duty 
placed  upon  him  by  statute.  His  special  obligations  to 
his  workmen  required  him  to  supply  and  maintain  a 
reasonably  safe  place  in  which  to  work,  equipped  with 
reasonably  safe  machinery  and  appliances,  and  to  exercise 
in  the  selection  of  fellow  servants  that  degree  of  care 
which  would  characterize  an  ordinarily  prudent  man,  and 
to  provide  for  employes  rules  for  their  instruction  and 
guidance.    But  while  the  common  law  made  the  employer  Employer 

.  1^    I,*         "°^   Liable 

liable  for  his  personal  negligence,  it  did  not  hold  him  for  Negligence 

,  ,        J    ,  ,     T     of  his  Agent 

liable  for  the  negligence  of  those  to  whom  he  delegated 
the  control,  direction  or  management  of  his  business,  or 


160 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Conduct  that 
Relieved 
Employer 
of  Liability 


Indemnlflcatioiil 
Personal 


any  part  of  it,  nor  for  any  injury  suffered  by  one  employe 
through  the  negligence  of  another  employe  engaged  in 
the  same  employment.  In  any  action  brought  against 
him  by  one  of  his  workmen  for  injury  received  in  the 
course  of  employment,  the  employer  was  relieved  of  lia- 
bility if  he  could  show  that  the  injured  man  had  agreed 
to  take  the  risk  of  his  employment,  even  though  that  risk 
resulted  from  the  employer's  own  failure  to  perform  a 
common  law  duty ;  or  if  he  could  show  that  the  workman 
had  himself  contributed  by  his  conduct  to  his  own  injury, 
or  had  been  injured  through  the  negligence  of  a  fellow 
workman  or  some  person  to  whom  the  employer  had 
transferred  his  own  power  of  direction  and  control,  ex- 
cept that  the  employer  was  never  allowed  to  delegate  to 
another  any  specific  duty  placed  upon  him  by  a  statute. 

Whenever  liability  was  established,  it  required  the  em- 
ployer in  every  case  to  indemnify  the  injured  workman 
personally.  No  right  of  action  was  possessed  on  his  be- 
half either  by  his  family,  his  relatives,  his  dependents,  or 
his  personal  representatives,  or  his  estate.  If  a  workman 
was  killed  by  accident  or  died  in  consequence  of  it, 
his  right  of  action  died  with  him,  no  matter  how  great 
might  have  been  the  negligence  of  his  employer.  If, 
under  like  conditions  of  injury,  a  workman  survived  and 
sued,  the  death  of  the  employer  before  judgment  was 
awarded  likewise  barred  recovery. 

A  general  percei^tion  of  the  hardships  arising  from 
the  doctrine  that  a  personal  action  dies  with  the  per- 
son in  whom  it  exists,  led  to  the  first  statutory  modi- 
fication of  the  common  law  in  1846,  by  the  passage 
of  what  was  commonly  known  as  "Lord  Campbell's  Act" 


EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN  161 

or  "The  Fatal  Accidents  Act   of  1846."     This  measure  Extension 

gave    to    the    personal    representative    of   anyone    whose  J^o  Rlpresenta- 

death  was  due  to  the  wrongful  act  or  neglect  of  another,  ^^""^^ 

the  same  right  of  action  which  would  have  been  possessed 

by   the   deceased   had   he   survived.     A   just   and   much 

needed  remedy  was  thus  conferred  upon  the  family  or 

dependents   of  a  workman   whose  death  was  caused  by 

negligence.     But  neither  this  statute  nor  any  other  which 

succeeded  it  prior  to  the  Compensation  Act  gave  any  right 

of  action  against  the  estate  of  an  individual  employer  to 

whose  negligence  death  or  injury  might  be  due.     Thus, 

even  under  Lord  Campbell's  Act,  damages  claimed  for 

death  due  to  negligence  were  required  to  be  recovered 

from  an  individual  employer  during  his  lifetime,  for  no 

action  could  be  maintained  against  his  estate. 

As  time  brought  changes  in  forms  and  methods  of 
production  and  the  factory  system  originated  and  de- 
veloped, the  individual  employer  retired  more  and  more 
from  personal  contact  with  his  workmen  and  was  sue-  / 
ceeded  by  managers  or  superintendents  exercising  control 
and  direction  in  his  stead.     Likewise  the  individual  em-  Difficulty  of 

Proving 

ployer  gave  way  to  the  corporation  operating  through  its  Liability 
directors   and   managing   officials.     With   these   changes 
the  proof  of  personal  negligence  became  increasingly  more', 
difficult,  until,  where  the  employer  was  a  corporation,  it\ 
was  substantially  impossible. 

The  personal  liability  of  the  employer  was  still  further 
limited  by  another  important  consideration.  The  gen- 
eral principle  that  each  individual  is  responsible  for  his 
own  acts  but  not  those  of  another  was  subject  to  qne 
marked  exception.     At  the  common  law  the  master  had 


162 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Origin  of 

"the   Fellow 

Servant 

Doctrine" 


Its  Intro- 
duction into 
American 
Law 


always  been  held  liable  for  the  acts  of  his  servants  within 
the  scope  of  their  authority.  In  1837,  in  the  now^  famous 
case  of  Priestly  vs.  Fowler,  (a)  it  was  held  that  the 
master  was  not  liable  to  one  servant  for  injury  due  to 
the  negligence  of  a  fellow^  servant  engaged  in  the  same 
employment.  This  decision  originated  the  fhuch  discussed 
principle  of  common  employment,  or,  as  it  is  more  popu- 
larly known  in  our  own  country,  "the  fellow  servant 
doctrine." 

A  powerful  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, written  by  its  then  Chief  Justice  Shaw,  in- 
troduced this  ruling  into  American  jurisprudence  in 
1842.  (b)  It  rapidly  prevailed  in  other  states  and  be- 
came an  accepted  principle  of  American  laAV.  It  was 
here  interpreted,  however,  with  such  restrictions  that, 
generally  speaking,  it  has  never  been  given  the  extreme 
application  which  obtained  in  England.  In  Great  Britain 
the  principle  was  carried  to  a  point  at  wiiich  it  practi- 
cally covered  all  persons  engaged  in  a  common  employ- 
ment without  regard  to  rank.  Thus  it  was  there  held 
that  the  general  manager  of  a  railway  company  was  in 
common  employment  Avith  a  platelayer,  (c)  the  captain 
of  a  ship  with  one  of  the  ordinary  seamen, ^^)  a  miner 
with  the  overseer  or  superintendent  of  a  mine.^®) 

Our  federal  and  state  courts  at  no  time  went  so  far  in 
applying  this  important  principle,  but  they  nevertheless 


(a)  3  M.  &  w.  1. 

(b)  Farwell  vs.  Boston,  etc.,  R.  R.     4  Met.  49. 

(c)  Conway  vs.  Belfast  &  Northern  R.  R.  Co.,  11  Ir.     L.  R.  34.5. 

(d)  Hedley  vs.   Pinkney   &   Sons   Steamship  Co.,  1   Q.   B.    58;   61  L. 
J.  Q.  B.     179. 

(e)  Hall  vs.  Johnson,  3  H.  &  C.  589. 


employers'  liability  in  great  BRITAIN  163 

became  involved  in  many  confusing  and  contradictory  de-  confusion 
cisions  due  in  all  likelihood  to  the  lack  of  an  accurate  Liabmty  Laws 
and  generally  accepted  definition  of  common  employment. 
''There  is  probably  no  one  matter/'  said  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  "upon  which  there  are  more 
conflicting  and  irreconcilable  decisions  in  the  various 
courts  of  the  land  than  the  one  as  to  what  is  the  test  of 
common  service  such  as  to  relieve  the  master  from  lia- 
bility for  the  injury  of  one  servant  through  the  negligence 
of  another." (a) 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  the  defense  of  com- 
mon employment  was  unknown  to  the  Civil  Law  of  Europe 
and  that  contributory  negligence  did  not  as  a  rule  bar 
recovery,  but  was  rather  an  element  modifying  the 
amount  of  damages. 

The  principles  enunciated  in  1837  became  permanent 
law  by  a  decision  of  the  House  of  Lords  in  1858, (^)  and 
from  that  time  there  was  a  continuous  agitation  for  the 
abolition  or  modification  of  the  defense  of  common  em- 
ployment. In  1877  a  bill  was  submitted  and  considered 
by  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  which  proposed 
to  make  the  employer  responsible  for  the  negligence  of 
persons  entrusted  with  the  duties  of  superintendence  and 
who  were  to  be  legally  designated  as  "vice-masters."  The 
committee,  however,  refused  to  recommend  the  measure.  ^ 
In  1879  the  government  proposed  that  corporations 
should  be  held  liable  for  injuries  caused  by  the  negligence 
of  their  manager  or  managers.     This,  however,  was  also 


(a)  B.  &  O.  R.  R.  vs.  Bau^,  149  U.  S.    368. 

(b)  Bartonshill  Coal  Co.  vs.  Reid,  3  Macq.  H.  L.     Cas.  266. 


164 


ACCIDENT    PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 


] 

c       New  Features 

J       of  the 

]       Emplayers' 

Liability  Act 

Of  1880 


withdrawn.  Finally,  in  1880,  the  government  introduced 
and  enacted  what  has  since  become  known  as  the  Em- 
ployers' Liability  Act  of  1880.  (a)  The  purpose  of  this 
measure,  it  was  stated,  was  to  "bring  back  the  law  to 
what  it  was  supposed  to  be  in  England  before  the  case 
of  Priestly  vs.  Fowler." 

The  new  Act  provided:  "The  same  right  of  compensa- 
tion and  remedies  against  the  employer  as  if  the  workman 
had  not  been  a  workman,  nor  in  the  service  of  the  em- 
ployer, nor  engaged  in  his  work."^^)  It  imposed  upon 
the  employer,  whether  an  individual  or  a  corporation,  lia- 
bility : 

"1.  For  defective  ways,  works,  machinery  and  plant. 

2.  For  the  neglect  of  his  superintendents. 

3.  For  the  neglect  of  persons  to  whom  he  delegated 
his  powers  of  giving  orders 

4.  For  defective  by-laws  and  instructions. 

5.  In  the  case  of  railway  companies,  for  the  negli- 
gent management  of  trains,  points  and  signals." (^) 

The  Act  seems  at  first  to  have  been  a  subject  of  much 
popular  misunderstanding.  It  is  and  was  asserted  to 
have  completely  abolished  the  doctrine  of  common  em- 
ployment, and  it  created  considerable  alarm  from  a  gen- 
eral assumption  that  it  imposed  extremely  onerous  obliga- 
tions. As  the  statute  was  subjected  to  interpretation,  it 
became  clear  that  with  respect  to  the  employer's  personal 
liability  for  injuries  arising  from   defects  in   his  ways, 


(a)  43  and  44  Victoria,  c.  42. 

(b)  43  and  44  Victoria,   Sec.  1. 

(c)  Ruegg's   Employers'   Liability,   etc.    (Sth   edition), 


1C3. 


employers'  liability  in  great  BRITAIN  165 

works,  macliinery  or  plant  of  wliicli  lie  had  or  could  be 
presumed  to  have  knowledge,  no  addition  had  been  made 
to  his  common  law  liability.  The  real  increase  of  obliga- 
tion consisted  in  making  him  responsible  for  the  negli- 
gence of  those  to  whom  he  delegated  permanent  or  tem- 
porary duties  of  supervision,  and  to  that  extent  only  the 
Act  of  1880  modified  the  doctrine  of  common  employ- 
ment. 

In  an  action  at  common  law,  the  amount  of  compen-  compensation 

Under  the 

sation  recoverable  for  personal  injury  due  to  negligence  Act  of  isso 
was  not  limited.     In  the  Act  of  1880,  recovery  was  ex- 
pressly limited   to  a  sum  "equivalent  to  the  estimated  / 
earnings  during  the  three  years  preceding  the  injury,  of 
a  person  in  the  same  grade  employed  during  those  years        / 
in  the  like  employment  and  in  the  district  in  which  the 
workman  is  employed  at  the  time  of  injury."  (a) 

The  Act  of  1880  was  closely  followed  by  several  of 
our  states.  In  many  others,  it  supplied  the  inspiration 
for  modifying  or  greatly  restricting  the  defense  of  com- 
mon employment  as  well  as  that  of  assumed  risk.  No 
state  followed  the  British  example,  however,  in  providing 
equal  limitation  upon  recovery.  Indeed,  in  some  of  our 
states  a  constitutional  provision  prohibits  the  legislature 
from  restricting  the  amount  of  damages  recoverable  for 
injuries  resulting  in  death. 

From  this  brief  review,  it  must  be  fairly  evident  that  American 

^  Employers 

under  the  common  law^  and  its  statutory  modifications  Liability 

Greater  than 

by   Lord   CampbelPs  Act  and  the  statute  of   1880,   the  British 
liabilities  of  the  British  employer  are  by  no  means  equal 


(a)    Sec.  3. 


166  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

Comparative        to   the    obUgatioiis    existiiig   in    most   of   the   American 

Compensation 

states,  while  the  British  workman  prosecuting  an  action 
for  personal  injury  was  at  a  decided,  indeed  distressing, 
disadvantage  in  comparison  with  an  American  workman, 
both  with  regard  to  the  nature  of  his  remedies  and  the 
amount  recoverable.  • 


CHAPTER    NINE 

Tlie  Introduction  or   tne   Compensation    Principle  oy    the    Acts    or 

1897  ancl   1900  and  tke  Investigation  of  tLe  Operation 

of  tLis  Legislation  ty  tke  Departmental 

Committee  of  1904 


CHAPTER  IX 

The  Introduction  of  the  Compensation  Principle  by 

THE  Acts  of  1897  and  1900  and  the  Investigation 

OF  THE  Operation  of  this  Legislation  by  the 

Departmental  Committee  of  1904 

The  Act  of  1880  by  no  means  stopped  agitation  for  a  Additional 
further  increase  of  employers'   liability.     From   1893   to  Lilwmy 
1897  several  measures  were  presented  by  Mr.   Asquith,  Legislation 
and  others,  to  secure  either  abolition  of  the  doctrine  of 
common  employment,  or  further  modification  of  the  de- 
fense of  assumed  risk.     In  1893,  on  the  second  reading  in 
Parliament  of  a  bill  for  the  latter  purpose,  the  first  step 
towards  the  principles  later  embodied  in  the  Compensa- 
tion Act  of  1897  was  taken  by   Mr.   Chamberlain,  who 
offered  an  amendment  to  the  pending  bill,  declaring  "that 
no    amendment    of   the    law   relating   to    employers'    lia- 
bilit}^  Avill  be  final  or  satisfactory  which  does  not  provide 
compensation  to  workmen  for  all  injuries  sustained  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  their  employment,  and  not  caused  by 
either  their  own  acts  or  default." (^) 

In  1897  Parliament  passed  the  first  compensation 
measure,  professedly  following  the  underlying  principles 
of  the  German  Act  of  1884,  but,  unlike  its  exemplar,  it  did 
not  establish  an  insurance  fund.    This  law  in  effect  wrote 


(a)    Hansard,  Vol.  VIII,  19C1    (1893). 


170  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 

Provisions  into  everv  contract  of  employment,  a  term  makin«-  every 

of  the  Act  "  »  V 

of  1897  employer  personally  liable  to  pay  limited  compensation 

for  personal  injury  received  by  a  workman  in  the  course 
of  employment,  except  it  were  due  to  his  own  serious  and 
willful  misconduct.  ^'Whatever  the  true  economic  view 
may  be  as  to  the  ultimate  incidence  of  hie  cost  of  com- 
pensation, a  burden  of  greater  or  less  weight  was,  in  the 
first  instance  at  all  events,  thrown  upon  the  employer 
and  a  benefit  conferred  on  the  workman."  (a)  The  lia- 
bility imposed  was  independent  of  fault  on  the  part  of 
either  party,  and  within  the  limits  prescribed  in  the  Act. 
The  amount  of  compensation  was  determined,  not  in  an 
action  at  law,  but  either  by  agreement  of  the  parties  ap- 
plying the  terms  of  the  measure  to  themselves,  or,  fail- 
ing in  that,  by  a  private  arbitrator  agreed  upon  by  the 
parties,  or  a  judge  of  the  county  court  sitting  as  an  ar- 
bitrator under  a  simplified  procedure. 

Conditions  of  No  Compensation  was  payable  until  disability   from 

injury  had  endured  two  weeks.  Weekly  payments  then 
became  due  proportionate  to  the  degree  of  disability  but 
in  no  case  exceeding  half  the  weekly  earnings  of  the  in- 
jured man,  with  a  maximum  limit  of  £1  (|5).  If  the 
Injury  resulted  in  death,  persons  within  certain  degrees 
of  relationship,  dependent  for  their  support  upon  the 
earnings  of  the  deceased,  were  entitled  to  compensation 
equivalent  to  his  earnings  for  three  years  preceding  the 
accident,  but  not  in  any  case  less  than  £150  (|750)  nor 
more  than  £300  (?1500),  the  amount  payable  to  be  de- 
termined within  these  limits  in  accordance  with  the  de- 
gree of  dependency  of  the  claimant. 


(a)    Report  Departmental   Committee    (1904),  p.  12. 


BRITISH   LEGISLATION  171 

The  Act  aimed  at  substantial  relief,  not  complete  in- 
demnity. Compensation  was  therefore  theoretically  to 
continue  during  disability.  Hence  provision  was  made 
for  the  revision  of  the  award  in  accordance  with  the 
increase  or  decrease  of  the  existing  disability. 

The  Act  was  professedly  of  an  experimental  character  scope 

1  1^1,-  „  of  the  Act 

and  was  expressly  connned  to  seven  groups  of  presumably 
hazardous  industries.  It  applied  to  employment  on  or 
about  a  railway,  a  factory,  a  mine,  a  quarry,  engineering 
work,  and  "a  building  Avhich  exceeds  thirty  feet  in  height 
and  is  either  being  constructed,  or  repaired  by  means  of 
scaffolding,  or  being  demolished,  or  on  which  machinery 
driven  by  steam  or  water  or  other  mechanical  power  is 
being  used  for  the  purpose  of  the  construction,  repair  or 
demolition  thereof." 

In  1900  the  terms  of  the  Act  were  extended  to  agri- 
culture which  included,  "horticulture,  forestry  and  the 
use  of  land  for  any  purposes  of  husbandry,  inclusive  of 
the  breeding  of  live  stock  or  bees,  and  the  growth  of  fruit 
ai^id  vegetables.'' 

The  remedies  existing  at  common  law  and  by  statute 
were  neither  abolished  nor  modified  but  continued  con- 
currently with  the  new  Act.  The  injured  worker  was, 
however,  in  theory,  compelled  to  make  an  election,  either 
to  pursue  his  remedy  at  law  or  under  the  Compensation 
Act.  But  it  was  provided  that  if  he  failed  in  proceedings 
at  common  law  or  under  the  statute,  he  could  apply  to 
the  judge  in  wliose  court  his  abortive  action  had  failed, 
for  an  award  of  compensation  under  the  Act,  subject,  in 
the  discretion  of  the  judge,  to  the  subtraction  of  such 
costs  as  were  caused  bv  the  legal  proceedings. 


172 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Repeal    of 
the  Act 


Imperfections 
of  the  Act 
of  1897 


It  is  not  essential  to  examine  at  length  the  terms  of 
this  measure.  It  was  repealed  by  the  existing  legislation 
of  1906,  to  which  extended  consideration  is  subsequently 
given.  We  are,  however,  deeply  interested  in  the  history 
of  its  practical  effects.  For  the  sweeping  extension  of  its 
principles  following  the  avowedly  tentative  adoption  of 
them  in  1897  necessarily  produces  a  general  impression 
that  the  experiment  must  have  fulfilled  the  hopeful  expec- 
tations of  its  advocates.  The  generality  of  men  would  like- 
wise conclude  that  the  Act  of  1906  expressed  in  its  terms 
much  experience  derived  from  careful  observation  of  the 
operation  of  its  predecessor.  Let  us  consider  whether  or 
not  the  facts  of  the  matter  give  support  to  such  natural 
presumption. 

Defects  of  form  became  evident  in  the  earliest  stages 
of  the  enforcement  of  the  Act  of  1897.  Ambiguities  of 
language  and  contradictory  sections  hindered  and  ob- 
structed its  administration  and  enforcement.  Effect  was 
given  to  its  provisions  only  by  what  was  generally  recog- 
nized as  arbitrary  and  indeed  artifical  distortion  of 
language.  Docks,  wharves,  quays  and  even  ships  were  in- 
cluded by  construction  Avithin  the  term  "Factory,"  and 
workmen  found  themselves  moving  in  and  out  of  the  Act 
in  accordance  with  the  circumstances  of  their  employ- 
ment. One  of  the  most  prominent  of  English  legal  au- 
thorities defied  the  Society  of  Architects  to  determine 
when  a  building  was  "30  feet  in  height.'^^a)  The  Court  of 
Appeals  was  inclined  to  believe  that  a  loose  board  thrown 
upon  the  roof  of  a  building  might,  within  the  terms  of 

(a)  Ruegg  Lectures  "Etmploj-er  and  Workman  in  England,"  Lecture 
V,  p.  149. 


BRITISH   LEGISLATION  173 

the  Act,  be  a  ^^scaffolding.'^^^)  One  distinguished  judge,  in 
the  course  of  a  decision,  scathingly  declared :  "The  Act  is 
drawn  in  such  extraordinary  fashion  and  the  methods  of 
arriving  at  its  meaning  are  so  complicated,  that  it  is  not 
easy  to  deal  with  it  on  broad  grounds  of  common  sense/' (^) 
These  exasperating  and  costly  errors  were  widely  acknowl- 
edged and  deprecated,  but  the  irritation,  expense  and  de- 
lay which  they  caused  through  many  years  of  litigation 
remained  largely  unremedied.  They  should  be  full  of 
suggestion  in  the  dangers  that  attend  poor  draftsmanship 
in  legislation. 

Errors  of  language  are,  however,  easily  cured;  it  is 
those  of  principle  which  are  difficult  to  remedy.  We  are 
far  more  interested  in  the  practical  operation  of  these 
principles  than  the  difficulties  which  arose  from  their  ex- 
pression in  inapt  and  artificial  language.  What  does  the 
statistical  record  of  the  Act  disclose?  Did  it  unduly 
burden  industry?  In  how  many  cases  was  compensation 
annually  paid?  How  did  it  affect  its  beneficiaries?  How 
do  the  charges  in  one  industry  compare  with  those  in 
others?     To  what  extent  is  insurance  resorted  to?     These  operation 

Act   1897 

and  many  other  inquiries  naturally  arise  in  the  mind,  unrecorded 
Strange  to  say,  there  is  no  record  from  which  they  can  be 
answered.  No  provision  was  made  in  the  Act  or  else- 
where for  the  collection  of  information  respecting  it. 
From  1897  to  1904  the  only  information  of  its  operation 
is  to  be  had  from  the  records  of  the  county  courts,  dis- 
closing the  number  and  nature  of  arbitrated  claims  for 


(a)  Veazy  vs.  Chattle,  1  K.  B.     494. 

(b)  Collins  L.  J.,  Hennessey  vs.  McCabe,  L.  J.  Q.  B.    175. 


174 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND   KELIEF 


Creation 
of   the 

Departmental 
Committee 
of  1904 


Preliminary 
Inquiries  of  the 
Committee 


compensation,  estimated  to  be  less  than  6  per  cent  of  the 
total  number  of  cases  in  which  compensation  was  paid. 
The  strange  spectacle  is  presented  of  a  proverbially  con- 
servative Parliament  enacting  legislation  of  an  avowedly 
experimental  character  and  proceeding  to  enforce  it  with 
no  provision  for  ascertaining  the  results  of  the  experi- 
ment. 

Except  for  the  fragmentary  administrative  information 
represented  in  compensation  litigation,  there  is  no  official 
source  of  information  respecting  the  Act  of  1897,  save 
the  report  of  the  Departmental  Committee  appointed  in 
1904  to  make  recommendations  respecting  the  amendment 
and  extension  of  the  Act.  This  body  consisted  of  five 
members,  including  a  representative  employer,  a  promi- 
nent trade  union  leader,  and  government  officials.  It 
alone  possessed,  during  the  term  of  its  existence,  power 
to  summon  witnesses  and  gather  evidence  respecting  the 
working  of  the  Act.  From  its  investigations  we  should 
expect  to  learn  the  conclusions  which  led  to  the  legisla- 
tion of  1906. 

As  a  preliminary  to  recommendations  concerning  the 
extension  of  the  Act,  the  Committee  undertook  to  do 
precisely  what  we  wish  to  do — "to  form  some  estimate  of 
the  way  in  which  this  great  experiment  in  legislation  had 
worked;  to  inquire  whether  it  fulfilled  expectations 
formed  some  years  ago;  and  what  weak  points  had  been 
disclosed."  (^)  The  Committee  gathered  information  dur- 
ing some  37  meetings  at  which  a  great  number  of  wit- 
nesses were  examined. 


(a)   Report  Departmental  Committee    (1004).  p.  13. 


BRITISH   LEGISLATION  175 

This  body  began  by  propounding  for  its  own  guidance 
a  series  of  very  interesting  questions,  tlie  replies  to  which, 
representing  the  conclusions  of  the  Committee,  relate  the  Questions 
operation  of  the  Act.     Chief  among  these  interrogatories  br?he'^^^'^ 
were  the  following:  committee 

1.  ^'Have  these  Acts  (1897  and  1900)  in  their  opera- 
tion been  unduly  productive  of  litigation;  if  so,  to  what 
cause  can  this  result  be  attributed  and  how  far  can  the 
evil  be  mitigated?" 

2.  "Have  they  tended  to  prevent  the  occurrence  of 
accidents  in  the  industries  to  which  they  have  been  ap- 
plied?" 

3.  "How  have  they  affected  accident  benefit  funds?" 

4.  "Have  they  imposed  or  are  they  likely  to  impose 
an}^  undue  burden  on  the  employer?" 

•  5.  "Has  their  operation  on  the  whole  been  beneficial 
to  the  workman?'" (a) 

The  Committee  began  its  investigation  with  the  com- 
plaint that  the  greatest  difficulty  arose  "from  the  fact 
that  there  w^as  no  provision  in  the  Act,  or  elsewhere,  for 
the  collecting  of  statistics  as  to  the  working  of  the  Act." 

Proceeding  to  investigate  its  First  question,  the  Com-  Findings  to 

Question  One 

mittee  found:  "various  defects  both  in  the  Act  itself  and 
the  machinery  by  which  it  is  enforced,  which  in  our  own 
opinion  gave  rise  to  much  preventable  litigation."  It  was 
of  the  further  opinion  that  one  of  the  chief  causes  of 
litigation  was  to  be  found  in  what  it  deemed  the  "un- 
satisfactory provision,"  that  where  the  workman  failed 
in  an  action  at  law  the  court  may  assess  compensation 


(a)   Report  Departmental  Committee    (1904),  p.  13. 


176        '  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 

under  the  Act,  deducting,  in  its  discretion,  the  costs  of 
the  unsuccessful  proceeding.  ''This,''  said  the  Committee, 
"has  been  found  to  offer  a  strong  temptation  to  the  less 
scrupulous  class  of  solicitors  to  bring  speculative  actions 
on  behalf  of  their  clients  under  the  Employers'  Liability 
Act,  or  in  some  cases  at  common  law,  with  a  view  to 
driving  the  employer  to  settle  on  advantageous  terms. 
*  *  *  We  think  that  this  provision  has  worked  largely 
to  the  disadvantage  of  both  employer  and  workman 
and  is  responsible  for  a  large  quantity  of  illegitimate 
litigation.-' (^)  The  Committee  regarded  the  total  volume 
of  litigation  as  small  in  comparison  with  the  great  num- 
ber of  cases  settled  by  agreement. 

Findings  to  Responding  to   the   Second   question,   the   Committee 

Question   Two 

reached  the  surprising  and  it  would  seem  somewhat  dis- 
couraging conclusions  in  view  of  the  expectations  aroused 
to  the  contrary  by  the  strong  assertions  of  advocates  of 
the  Act,  that  "No  evidence  has  been  brought  before  us 
which  enables  us  to  find  that  any  great  improvement  in 
the  direction  of  safety  is  to  be  placed  to  the  credit  of  this 
Act.  Indeed,  some  evidence  rather  points  in  the  opposite 
direction." (^)  The  Committee  emphasized  the  fact  "that 
the  machinery  of  German  insurance  associations  is  di- 
rected towards  securing  greater  safety  of  the  workman." 
And  again,  in  concluding,  it  is  reiterated :  "On  the  whole, 
therefore,  we  feel  unable  to  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  operation  of  the  Compensation  Act  of  1897  has  had 


(a)  Report   Departmental  Committee    (1904),  p.  19. 

(b)  Report  Departmental  Committee   (1904),  p.  22. 


BRITISH   LEGISLATION  177 

any  marked  or  ascertainable  effect,  one  way  or  the  other, 
upon  the  safety  of  the  workman." (^) 

Answering  its  Third  query,  the  Committee  responds:  Findings  to 
^^We  think  that  the  evidence  has  shown  that  their  opera-  "^^^'°"  '^*'^®® 
tion  (the  Acts  of  1897  and  1900)  has  been  largely  to  put  an 
end  to  those  societies  for  accident  compensation  which 
previously  were  supported  by  the  joint  contributions  of 
employers  and  workmen.'' (^)  It  was  concluded  that  the 
dissolution  of  these  organizations  was  due  in  a  great 
number  of  instances  to  the  discontinuance  of  the  contri- 
butions by  the  employers,  who,  said  the  Committee,  "can 
hardly  be  expected  to  contribute  to  these  funds  as  well 
as  to  bear  the  burden  thrown  upon  them  by  the  Act."^^) 
,  The  Fourth  question  impressed  the  Committee  with 
special  gravity,  for  it  said:  "Whatever  may  be  the  true 
view  as  to  the  incidence  of  tlie  burden  of  compensation  for 
accidents,  it  seems  plain  that  if  the  cost  thrown  at  all 
events  in  the  first  instance  on  the  employer  is  excessive, 
the  ultinmte  loss  consequent  thereon  will  fall  with  equal 
or  greater  weight  upon  the  workman,  either  by  the 
diminution  ^of  wages,  or  loss  of  employment,  or  loss 
through  the  insolvency  of  the  employer.''(d)  The  evi- 
dence before  the  Committee  presented  urgent  need  for  a 
clearer  definition  of  the  rights  and  liabilities  of  employer 
and  employe.  "This  involves  the  removal  of  certain  anoma- 
lies   and    distinctions,    based    on    no    ascertainable    prin- 


(a)  Report  Departmental  Committee    (1904),  p.  23. 

(b)  Report  Departmental  Committee    (1904),  p.  23. 

(c)  Report  Departmental  Committee   (1904),  p.  24. 

(d)  Report  Departmental  Committee    (1904),  p.  25. 


178  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 

ciple,  which  at  present  tend  to  create  a  sense  of  in- 
equality and  injustice/'^^)  Employers  in  England  as  in 
America,  were  evidently  complaining,  not  so  much  of  the 
actual  cost  of  compensation,  as  that  most  unsatisfactory 
of  all  the  conditions,  one  of  uncertainty  as  to  the  nature 
of  their  liability  under  the  Act.  The  Comniittee  expressed 
its  conclusions  respecting  the  Fourth  question  as  follows : 
Findings  to  "1.  That   the   pecuniary   burden   imposed   by  the   Act 

Question  Four 

upon  the  employer  has  not  been  excessive. 

2.  But  the  burden  tends  to  increase  especially  in 
consequence  of  the  rapidity  at  which  claims  are  growing 
and  the  burden  which  is  necessarily  imposed  by  the  in- 
creasing number  of  permanent  cases,  and  that  the  Act  of 
1897  has  not  been  sufficiently  long  in  operation  to  permit 
of  au}^  really  trustworthy  estimate  being  formed  of  the 
limits  which  this  increase  will  ultimately  reach. 

3.  That  if  this  last  inference  is  well  founded,  the 
greatest  caution  is  required  before  the  personal  liability 
already  imposed  by  the  Act  on  the  employer  is  materi^ally 
increased,  especially  by  any  legislation  which  may  add  to 
the  indefiniteness  and  uncertainty  of  that  liability,  unless 
there  are  paramount  reasons  for  the  suggested  change."(^> 

The  Comniittee  emphasizes  in  remarkable  language  its 
belief  in  the  extreme  importance  of  the  functions  under- 
taken by  mutual  insurance  associations  of  employers :  ''If 
these  associations  receive  further  development  and  more 
complete  organization,  and  are  extended  to  other  in- 
dustries, the  solution  of  many  difficulties  which  beset  the 


(a)  Report  Departmental  Committee    (1904),  p.  25. 

(b)  Report  Departmental  Committee    (1904),  p.  3.S. 


BRITISH   LEGISLATION  179 

working  oi  tlie  Act  may  be  found,  which  will  operate  in 
furtherance  of  the  interests  of  both  employers  and  work- 
men." (^) 

The  conclusions  in  reply  to  the  Fifth  question  were  of  Findings  to 

Question   Five 

paramount  importance.  They  determine,  and  in  a  special 
degree,  whether  or  not  the  Act  accomplishes  the  benefits 
sought. 

The  Committee  found  little  complaint  as  to  the  ade- 
quacy of  the  compensation  provided,  but  much  as  to  the 
insufficiency  of  provisions  against  the  insolvency  of  the 
small  emploj^er.  The  latter  difficulty  was  frankly  de- 
clared to  be  inseparable  from  any  system  resting  upon 
the  personal  liability  of  the  employer.  But  the  most 
■serious  charge  brought  against  the  Act  by  laboring  men 
themselves  Avas  that  the  measure  had  a  marked  effect 
upon  the  employment  of  elderly  or  maimed  persons.  ^^) 
Government  officials,  officers  of  the  largest  trade  unions, 
representatives  of  great  industries  and  employers,  and  in- 
surance organizations  alike  offered  conclusive  evidence 
that  elderly  and  defective  workmen  faced  an  ever  in- 
creasing difficulty,  not  merely  in  retaining  their  present 
employment,  but  in  obtaining  new  employment,  because  of 
tlie  serious  risk  which  their  condition  presented  under 
tlie  increased  liabilities  of  the  Act.  ''The  evidence,"  says 
the  Committee,  "has  led  us  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
Workmen's  Compensation  Acts  have  largely  increased  the 
difficulties  of  old  men  finding  and  obtaining  employment. 


(a)  Report  Departmental  Committee   (1004),  p.  33. 

(b)  Report   Departmental    Committee    (1004),   pp.   3S-S0-40. 


180  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

We  fear  that  the  tendency  is  for  these  difficulties  to 
grow.  ♦  ♦  ♦  A.  somewhat  different  question  arises 
in  reference  to  diseased,  weak,  or  partially  maimed  per- 
sons. In  the  case  of  the  latter  there  is  distinct  evidence 
that  in  many  cases  they  are  refused  employment  at  their 
old  trade  although  perfectly  capable  'of  earning  full 
wages  (a)  *  *  *  It  appears  to  us  that  the  operation 
of  the  Act,  as  it  stands,  both  as  regards  old,  infirm,  and 
those  who  have  been  maimed,  has  proved  a  serious  draw- 
back to  the  advantages  which  in  other  respects  it  has 
conferred  on  the  workman."  (b) 
Remedies  To  remedy  this  serious  condition  the  Committee  sug- 

Committee  gcstcd  that  infirm  or  defective  persons  should,  upon  the 

certificate  of  a  medical  referee,  be  permitted  to  contract 
out  of  the  Act  on  special  terms  as  to  compensation,  due 
care  being  had  to  guard  such  a  provision  against  abuse. 
Turning  from  an  examination  of  the  practical  opera- 
tion of  the  Act,  the  Committee  gave  attention  to  the  sub- 
ject of  its  amendment.  In  the  course  of  this  task  it  had 
occasion  to  examine  the  practical  operation  of  the  only 
bar  to  the  recovery  of  compensation,  the  serious  and  will- 
ful misconduct  of  the  injured  person.  The  Committee 
commented  on  the  fact  that  all  the  representatives  of  the 
trade  unions  who  appeared  before  it  could  mention  but 
two  cases  in  which  the  question  of  serious  and  willful 
misconduct  had  arisen,  while  it  quoted  Judge  Ruegg,  gen- 
erally regarded  in  England  as  perhaps  the  highest  author- 
ity upon  the  construction  of  the  Act,  as  giving  his  opinion 

(a)  Report  Departmental  Committee    (1904),  p.  39. 

(b)  Report  Departmental  Committee    (1904),  p.  41. 


BRITISH  LEGISLATION  181 

"that  it  was  practically  impossible,  whatever  a  man  does, 
to  get  a  finding  of  serious  and  Avillful  misconduct  against 
him.''(a) 

The  Committee  was  urged  to  recommend  that  the 
period  of  disability  during  which  compensation  was  not 
paid  be  reduced  from  two  weeks  to  one,  but  it  sharply 
refused,  declaring  "the  transference  to  the  employer  of 
the  burden  of  the  compensation  for  the  whole  or  any  part 
of  the  first  two  weeks  would  be  a  grave  departure  from 
the  system  deliberately  adopted  by  the  legislation  of 
1897/'^^)  "There  are  no  sufficient  reasons  to  justify  us 
in  making  any  recommendations  to  this  etfect."^^)  The 
C'ommittee  attached  great  importance  to  the  amendment 
providing  for  the  appointment  of  a  medical  referee  whose 
evidence  as  to  the  condition  of  an  applicant  for  compen- 
sation should  be  conclusive.  It  declined  to  recommend 
any  general  extension  of  the  provisions  of  the  Act. 

Throughout  the  entire  I'eport  of  the  Committee  flows  committee 

Favored 

evidence,  continually  increasing  in  volume  and  strength,  insurance 

to  Personal 

of  the  fact  that  the  investigation  convinced  its  members  Liability 
that  the  whole  basis  of  compensation  should  be  changed 
by  substituting  insurance  for  personal  liahiliUj.  Re- 
ferring to  the  difficulty  of  affording  any  certain  relief  to 
the  workman  of  the  small  employer,  it  said:  "That  there 
must  always  be  a  serious  risk  of  the  insolvency  of  the  em- 
ployer seems  to  us  an  inevitable  consequence  of  the  adop- 
tion of  a  principle  of  personal  liability  instead  of  that  of 


(a)  Report  Departmental  Committee   (1904),  p.  66. 

(b)  Report  Departmental  Committee   (1904),  p.  76. 

(c)  Report  Departmental  Committee    (1904),  p.  76. 


Recommen- 
dation of 
Compulsory- 
Insurance 
as  Most 
Effectual 


182  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

compulsory  insurance  under  proper  regulations." (^)  Again 
they  declare :  ^'It  appears  impossible  to  guard  against  this 
difficulty  in  a  wholly  satisfactory  manner,  unless  the  se- 
curity of  a  solvent  insurance  fund  is  substituted  for  the 
personal  responsibility  of  the  individual  employer.'^^^^ 
The  very  object  of  the  Act,  asserts  the  Committee,  is  to 
provide  "an  indirect  method  of  compulsory  insurance 
rather  than  to  enforce  any  ordinary  legal  obligation."  (^^ 

So  time  after  time,  as  the  experience  of  witnesses  de- 
veloped new  perplexities,  the  Committee  falls  back  upon 
the  insurance  fund  as  the,  only,  all  sufficient  remedy. 
"We  anticipate  that  the  remedies  under  the  old  law  will 
fall  more  and  more  into  disuse  and  that  the  minds  of  the 
legislature  will  be  directed  to  the  improvement  or  exten- 
sion of  the  best  form,  whether  direct  or  indirect,  of  com- 
pulsory insurance."  ^^^  "Our  difficulties  *  *  *  are 
intensified  by  the  fact  that  our  system  of  compensation 
is  appearing  to  rest  entirely  upon  the  personal  or  in- 
dividual liability  of  the  employer  and  is  not  cast  upon 
a  fund  regulated  by  special  legislative  provisions."  (®) 

Such  are  the  opinions  and  conclusions  expressed  by 
the  only  authoritative  public  body  which,  between  the 
passage  of  the  Act  of  1897  and  the  advanced  measure  of 
1906,  undertook  to  investigate  the  practical  effects  of  the 
compensatory  principle  in  the  form  given  it  by  the 
British  Parliament. 


(a)  Report  Departmental  Committee  (1904),  p.  38. 

(b)  Report  Departmental  Committee  (1904),  p.  121. 

(c)  Report   Departmental  Committee  (1904),   p.  93. 

(d)  Report  Departmental  Committee  (1904),  p.  93. 

(e)  Report  Departmental  Committee  (1904),  p.  40. 


CHAPTER   TEN 

TLe  Final  Extension  of  tke  Compensation  Principle 

TLe  Act  of   1906,  Outline  of  its  Provisions 

and  Examination  of  tke  Nature  and 

Extent  of  its  Liabilities 


CHAPTER  X 

The  Final  Extension  of  the  Compensation  Principle 

The  Act  of  1906,  Outline  of  its  Provisions  and 

Examination  of  the  Nature  and  Extent  of 

ITS  Liabilities 

The  Act  of  1906  is  Great  Britain's  last  and  broadest  Act  of  i906 

, .        ,  .  /.I  i  .  .       .  the  Latest 

application  of  the  compensation  principle.     It  repealed  British 
the  preceding  legislation  of  1897-1900  except  as  to  claims 
existing  under  them.     Rights  of  action  at  common  law 
or  by  statute  remained  unaffected,  but  subject,  as  we  shall 
see,  to  use  as  alternative  but  not  consecutive  remedies. 

We  shall  briefly  outline  the  Act,  examining  the  nature 
and  extent  of  its  liabilities  and  its  methods  of  administra- 
tion, confining  our  attention  to  provisions  of  substantial 
importance  and  omitting  reference  to  a  variety  of  minor 
details. 

The  Act  provides  in  effect  that  every  employer,  indi-  Provisions 

of  Act  of  1906 

vidual  or  corporate,  in  any  employment  shall  be  liable  to 
his  workmen  for  personal  injury  by  accident,  arising  from 
and  in  the  course  of  employment,  where  the  injury  is  of 
such  a  character  as  to  disable  the  workman  for  at  least 
one  week  from  earning  full  wages  at  his  employment; 
provided  that  the  injured  workman  is  not  earning  more 
than  £250    ($1,250)   per  year,  except  he  be  engaged  in 

185 


186 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Occupational 
Disease 


Amount  of 
Compensation 


Contracting 
Out  of  the  Act 


manual  labor,  in  which  event  the  amount  of  his  earnings 
is  immaterial.  No  injury  is  to  be  compensated  if  caused 
by  the  worker's  own  serious  and  willful  misconduct  unless 
it  results  in  death  or  serious  and  permanent  disability. 

Such  occupational  diseases  as  are  named  in  the  Act, 
or  may  from  time  to  time  be  designated  oy  the  Secretary 
of  State  in  his  discretion,  are  legally  to  be  considered 
"accidents"  and  compensated  as  such,  under  conditions 
hereafter  described.  Six  diseases  were  specified  in  the 
Act  and  18  have  since  been  added  thereto  by  order  of  the 
Secretary. 

The  Act  entitles  an  injured  workman  during  the 
period  of  his  incapacity  to  weekly  payments  which  shall 
not  exceed  50  per  cent  of  his  previous  weekly  earnings 
and  in  no  event  more  than  £1  (f5)  per  week,  the  specific 
amount  being  determined  by  the  degree  of  incapacity  fol- 
lowing the  injury,  the  award  being  subject  to  diminution 
or  enlargement  as  disability  diminishes  or  increases.  In 
case  of  death  from  injury,  "dependents''  named  in  the  Act, 
and  including  an  illegitimate  child  or  children,  are,  in 
accordance  with  the  degree  of  dependence,  entitled  to  not 
less  than  a  total  of  £150  (|750)  nor  more  than  £300 
($1500),  either  from  the  employer  or  his  estate.  If  the 
workman  leaves  no  dependents  the  employer  is  liable  to 
pay  not  to  exceed  £10  (|50)  for  medical  and  funeral 
expense. 

Contracting  out  of  the  Act  is  forbidden  except  where 
employer  and  employe  agree  to  a  substitute  scheme  which 
the  Registrar  of  Friendly  Societies  approves,  after  as- 
certaining by  ballot  that  a  majority  of  the  workmen  af- 


EXTENSION    OF    COMPENSATION    PRINCIPLE  187 

fected  agree  to  it  and  that  the  scheme  confers  benefits 
equal  to  or  greater  than  those  of  the  Act. 

Notice  of  accident   must   be  given,    unless   otherwise  Notice  of 

Accident  and 

excused,  as  soon  as  practicable  after  its  occurrence  and  Fiung  ciaims 
before  the  injured  person  voluntarily  leaves  the  service  of 
the  employer.  The  claim  for  compensation,  unless  ex- 
cused, must  be  made  within  six  months  from  the  oc- 
♦currence  of  the  accident  or  the  date  of  death  resulting 
therefrom. 

Compensation  awarded  mav  be  enforced  by  the  ordi-  '^^^^  ^^ 

^  c7  .;  Collecting 

nary  process  of  execution  or  by  Avhat  is  known  as  a  com-  claims 
mittal  order  under  the  Debtors'  Act  of  1869,  and  when 
paid  is  not  subject  to  attachment.  In  the  event  of  the 
insolvency  of  the  employer,  a  workman  awarded  com- 
pensation is  a  preferred  creditor  to  the  extent  of  £100 
(|500),  but  if  an  insolvent  employer's  liability  be  in- 
sured, a  claim  vests  in  the  workman  against  the  under- 
writer, equal  to  but  not  greater  than  that  possessed  by  the 
employer  on  his  behalf. 

The  administration  of  the  Act  contemplates  that  em-  Administration 
ployer  and  employe  shall,  in  the  first  instance,  endeavor 
by  agreement  to  apply  its  provisions  to  themselves.  In 
the  event  of  a  dispute  as  to  facts  or  the  application  of 
the  law,  and  in  that  event  only,  arbitration  may  be  had. 
For  this  purpose  employer  and  workman  may  agree  upon 
a  committee  or  a  single  arbitrator,  or  they  may  apply  to 
a  county  judge  who  shall  sit  as  an  arbitrator,  and  who, 
in  the  event  of  his  inability  to  do  so,  may,  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  Lord  Chancellor,  appoint  a  substitute  to  sit  in 
his  stead,  with  such  power  as  he  would  himself  possess. 
Lay  arbitrators  may  submit  questions  of  law  to  a  county 


188 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND   RELIEF 


Revisjpn  of 
Compensation 
and  Medical 
Examination 


judge.  On  findings  of  fact,  the  decision  of  the  arbitrator 
is  ^iial,  but  appeal  may  be  had  on  questions  of  law  to 
the  Court  of  Appeals,  and  finally  to  the  House  of  Lords. 

A  Avorkman  giving  notice  of  an  accident  must,  if  re- 
quired by  the  employer,  submit  to  examination  by  a  duly 
qualified  physician  provided  and  i>aid*  by  the  em- 
ployer. Refusal  of  such  examination  or  its  obstruction 
suspends  the  right  to  prosecute  the  claim  for  compensa- 
tion until  such  examination  takes  place.  After  compen- 
sation is  awarded,  the  recipient  may,  at  such  intervals  as 
are  designated  in  rules  made  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  be 
required  to  submit  to  further  medical  examination  by  a 
physician  provided  and  paid  by  the  employer,  who  may 
thus  ascertain  Avhether  or  not  the  disability  continues. 
The  evidence  of  a  physician  making  such  examinations  is 
not,  of  course,  conclusive  as  to  the  workman's  physical 
condition,  but  upon  application  signed  by  hoth  employer 
and  workman,  and  in  that  event  only,  the  Registrar  of 
a  county  court  may  appoint  a  medical  referee  whose 
certificate  as  to  the  physical  condition  of  the  workman, 
his  fitness  for  emplo^^ment  or  the  question  of  whether  or 
not  his  incapacity  is  due  to  the  accident  described,  is 
conclusive  evidence  binding  upon  both  parties.  Any  lay 
or  judicial  arbitrator  may  ask  for  a  report  of  the  medical 
referee  on  the  physical  condition  of  an  applicant  for 
compensation,  but  except  under  the  conditions  described, 
neither  the  parties  to  the  controversy  nor  the  arbitrator 
are-  bound  by  the  report. 

A  workman  may  not  recover  for  injury  received  dur- 
ing employment  both  at  law  and  under  the  Act,  but  as^ 
under  the  Act  of  1897,  a  plaintiff,  failing  in  an  action 


EXTENSION    OF    COMPENSATION    PRINCIPLE  189 

under  the  Liability  Act  or  at  the  common  law,  may  im-  workmen 
mediately    ask    the    judge    of    the    court    in    which    the  compensation 

After   Action 

ahortive  action  has  been  brought,  to  assess  his  claim,  if  one  at  Law 
til  ere  be,  under  the  Compensation  Act.  In  such  event,  the 
court  may,  in  its  discretion,  deduct  from  the  compensation 
awarded  all  or  part  of  the  costs  incurred  in  the  defeated 
proceeding  at  law.  As  a  matter  of  practice,  under  these 
•circumstances  judges  rarely  assess  more  than  a  moiety 
of  the  costs  caused  by  the  legal  proceeding.  It  is  difficult 
to  understand  Avhy  this  provision  was  allowed  to  remain 
in  the  Act  of  1906  in  view  of  the  emphatic  protest  against 
it  by  the  Departmental  Committee  in  1904.  "We  think,'' 
said  that  body,  "the  poAver  to  assess  compensation  after 
unsuccessful  proceedings  under  the  Employers'  Liability 
Act  should  be  repealed.  *  *  *  It  is  no  protection 
whatever  to  impose  upon  the  workman  who  fails  the  obli- 
gation to  pay,  or  the  liability  to  have  a  deduction  of  costs 
from  his  compensation.  Tlie  employer  has  in  practice  to 
bear  all  his  own  costs,  whether  he  succeeds  or  not.'' (a) 

To  ascertain  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  chief  lia-  Nature  of 
bilities  imposed  by  the  Act,  Ave  briefly  examine  the  Ian-  imposed 
guage  from  which  the}'  arise.  Who  is  a  "Avorkman"? 
W^hat  is  "personal  injury  by  accident"?  When  may  it  be 
said  to  arise  "out  of  and  in  the  course  of  employment''? 
What  conduct,  if  any,  upon  the  part  of  the  AA^orkman 
bars  recover}'  of  compensation?  The  answer  to  these 
queries  not  onl}-  enables  one  to  understand,  substantially, 
the  character  and  extent  of  the  obligations  created,  but  to 


(a)    Report  Departmental  Committee   (1904),  p,  93. 


190 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND   RELIEF 


Definition   of 
a    "'Worlinian" 
rnder  the  Act 
and  "Excepted' 
Persons 


Meaning  of 

"Casual 

Labor" 


realize  the  legal  and  practical  effect  of  introducing  such 
terms  into  our  own  legislation,  where,  in  conjunction  with 
similar  purposes,  they  would  be  expected  to  convey  the 
meaning  attributed  in  the  jurisdiction  from  which  they 
were  taken. 

A  "workman''  within  the  meaning  of  the  Act  is  any 
person  who  has  entered  into  or  works  under  a  contract 
of  service  or  apprenticeship  with  an  employer,  whether 
by  way  of  manual  labor,  clerical  work  or  otherwise.  It 
is  not,  however,  to  include  individuals  in  these  classes 
earning  more  than  £250  (|1,250)  per  year,  except  from 
manual  labor;  or  "a  person  whose  employment  is  of  a 
casual  nature,''  except  it  be  for  the  purposes  of  the  em- 
ployer's trade  or  business.  A  member  of  the  police  force, 
an  out-worker  or  a  member  of  the  employer's  family  in 
his  service  but  dwelling  in  his  house,  are  also  excluded 
from  the  operation  of  the  Act. 

It  might  seem  at  first  that  most  "casual  labor''  was 
outside  the  Act.  This,  however,  is  not  true.  All  casual 
labor  serving  an  employer  in  his  "trade  or  business"  is 
within  the  Act.  Thus,  if  a  householder  employed  a  person 
to  repair  his  home,  damaged  during  a  storm,  he  would 
not  be  liable  to  the  workman  in  event  of  his  injury 
during  the  job,  but  if  the  householder,  being  a  merchant, 
engaged  a  person  to  deliver  even  a  single  package  or  do 
an  errand  in  the  execution  of  his  business,  that  person, 
if  injured  during  the  employment,  would  be  within  the 
Act.  It  is  the  iemployment  of  the  individual  which  must 
be  casual  and  not  the  work.  Thus  a  washerwoman  ac- 
customed  to   come  certain   days   in   each   week   and   do 


EXTENSION    OF    COMPENSATION    PRINCIPLE  191 

laundry   work   is   not   casual   labor,  (a)    while   a   window  casual 

Labor 

cleaner,  given  a  chance  job,  is  casual  labor,  (b)  Further-  illustrated 
more,  it  is  the  trade  or  business  of  the  employer  and  not 
of  the  person  employed  which  may  determine  the  applica- 
tion of  the  Act.  Tlius  a  traveler  engaging  a  porter  to 
carry  his  bag  to  or  from  a  train  employs  him  for  a  pri- 
vate purpose  with  reference  to  the  traveller,  although  it 
is  the  regular  business  of  the  porter,  and  the  porter 
would  not  be  within  the  Act,  if  injured.  If,  however,  the 
traveler,  being  engaged  in  selling  goods,  hired  the  porter 
to  carry  a  bag  containing  samples  or  wares,  with  the  aid 
of  which  business  w^as  transacted,  the  injur}-  of  the  porter 
during  such  employment  by  an  accident  arising  from  it, 
would  probably  render  the  traveler  liable.  Every  person 
given  chance  employment  for  however  brief  a  period,  in 
pursuance  of  the  employer's  business,  is  Avithin  the  Act. 
Every  person  working  under  a  contract  of  service  or  ap- 
prenticeship, written  or  implied,  is  within  the  Act  unless 
he  is  specifically  excluded  from  it.(c) 

No  one  has  yet  undertaken  to  enumerate  all  the 
classes  of  workmen  coming  within  the  scope  of  the  Act. 
It  has  been  roughly  estimated  that  some  thirteen  millions 
of  the  population  of  Great  Britain  are  within  its  terms. 
One  distinguished  British  legal  authority  has  offered  a 
partial  list  of  the  classes  of  workmen  included  under  the 
Act,  expressly  insisting,  however,  that  his  list  is  illustra- 
tive and  not  exhaustive.  He  embraces  within  the  measure: 


(a)  Dewhur^t  vs.  Mather,  2  K.  B.,  7.54  (1908). 

(b)  Hill  vs.  Begg,  2  K.  B.,  802  (1908). 

(c)  Ruegg  Workmen's  Compensation,  8th  ed.,  273. 


192  ACCIDENT    PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 

Occupations  1.  Kailwaj  servants. 

-within    the 

Scope  of  2.  Workmen    in    factories    and    workshops,    inclnding 

the  Act 

docks,  wharves,  quays,  warehouses,  etc. 

3.  Workmen  in  mines. 

4.  Workmen  in  quarries.  ^ 

5.  Workmen  in  engineering  Avork. 

6.  Workmen  in  building  work. 

7.  Workmen  in  agriculture. 

8.  Servants  and  assistants  in  shops,  inns,  hotels,  pub- 
lic houses. 

9.  Domestic  or  menial  servants. 

10.  Seamen  (subject  to  the  special  provisions  of  the 
Act). 

11.  Drivers  and  conductors  of  public  vehicles. 

12.  Clerks  in  banks,  insurance  or  trading  olflces  (sub- 
ject to  limitation  as  to  salary). 

13.  Clerks,  assistants,  messengers  in  government,  county 
or  municipal  offices. 

14.  Persons  engaged  in  the  management,  driving  or  con- 
trol of  horses  or  other  animals,  or  automobile  conveyances. 

15.  Persons  in  the  permanent  employ,  under  contract  of 
service,  of  hospitals  and  other  philanthropic  institutions. 

IG.  Persons  in  the  permanent  employ,  under  contract  of 
service,  of  religious  establishments,  colleges,  or  schools, 
besides  many  other  smaller  classes  too  numerous  to  men- 
tion,   (a) 


(a)    Riiegj?  Employers'  liability,  etc.,  8th  ed.,  p.  28.5. 


EXTENSION    OF    COMPENSATION    PRINCIPLE  193 

To  these  may  be  added  professional  players  taking 
part  in  sports  and  games.  In  this  country  the  term 
would  include  baseball  players.  (^) 

In  connection  with  the  term  ^'workman"  it  should  be  compensation 

Under  the  Act 

noticed  that  the  compensation  awarded  under  the  Act  is  Determined 

"by  "Earningrs" 

determined  by  the  ^'earnings"  of  the  workman  at  the  time 
of  injury.  This  is  a  broader  term  than  either  wages  or 
salary,  for  it  may  include  not  only  pay,  but  the  value  of 
any  benefit  or  privilege  arising  from  the  employment, 
such  as  the  rental  value  of  a  house  which  the  workman 
is  permitted  to  occupy  in  the  course  of  his  employment, 
or  supplies  or  other  things  which  were  part  of  his  re- 
muneration. Even  gratuities  habitually  received  in  the 
employment  are  part  of  the  "earnings."  (b)  More  than 
that,  the  "earnings''  of  an  injured  person  are  to  be  de- 
termined not  merely  by  what  he  receives  from  the  em- 
ployer in  whose  service  he  was  injured,  but  in  addition 
thereto,  Avhatever  he  may  have  earned  in  other  "con- 
current'^  employments.  Thus,  if  he  worked  part  of  the 
day  for  one  employer  and  served  as  night  watchman  for 
another,  his  "earnings''  would  be  estimated  by  his  income 
from  both  employments.  (^^  Indeed,  if  he  be  in  the  con- 
current service  of  a  number  of  employers,  the  one  in  the 
course  of  whose  employment  he  is  injured  must,  if  liable, 
compensate  him,  not  on  the  basis  of  his  "earnings"  with 
that  employer  alone,  but  on  the  basis  of  his  "earnings" 
from  all  concurrent  employment.  (^) 


(a)  Walker  vs.  The  Crystal  Palace  Football  Club,  1  K.  B.,  87  (1910). 

(b)  Penn  vs.   Spiers  &  Pond,  1  K.  B.,  7GG. 

(c)  Bevin  Workman's  Compensation,  p.  546. 

(d)  Dewhurst  vs.  Mather,  2  K.  B.  ITA   (1908). 


When 
"Accident" 
"Arises  Out  of 
and  in  the 
Course  of 
Employment" 


194  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 

The  words  "arising  out  of  and  in  the  course  of  em- 
ployment" might,  on  their  face,  cause  a  layman  to  suspect 
that  the  measure  provided  for  injuries  received  away 
from  work  as  well  as  when  engaged  in  it.    But  this  is  not 

its  intention,  we  are  assured,  however  far  some  decisions 

.  t 

may  seem  to  go. 

The  locality  in  which  an  injury  is  received  is  im- 
material, provided  the  injured  person  is  pursuing  his  em- 
ployment. It  is  not  necessary  that  he  should  actually  be 
at  work.  He  is  covered  by  this  provision  of  the  Act  on 
his  way  to  the  pay  office  of  the  employer (^)  or  returning 
from  it  to  his  work,  even  though,  in  the  latter  case,  he 
should  get  on  the  wrong  street  car  and  in  correcting  his 
^mistake  be  knocked  down  by  a  passing  wagon.  (^)  This 
provision  further  protects  him  from  the  time  of  arrival 
upon  the  employer's  premises,  for  a  reasonable  period  be- 
fore going  to  work^*^)  and  likewise  on  leaving  the  em- 
ployer's premises  at  the  conclusion  of  his  work^^)  even 
though  he  does  not  use  the  usual  way.^®)  If  a  domestic 
servant  loses  her  life  in  an  accidental  fire  which  destroys 
the  house  of  the  employer,  in  which  she  is  sleeping,  her 
death  arises  out  of  the  course  of  her  employment  and  her 
dependents  are  entitled  to  compensation,  (f) 

Two  instances  may  serve  to  suggest  the  novel  cases 
which  have  arisen  under  this  provision  and  the  distinc- 

(a)  Lowry  vs.  Sheffield  Coal  Co.,  24  T.  L.  R.  142   (1907). 

(b)  Nelson  vs.   Belfast  Corporation,  42  Ir.  L.  T.  223. 

(c)  Lowless  vs.  Wigan  Coal  &  Iron  Co.,  Ltd.,  124  L.  T.  Jour.'  .532 
(1908). 

(d)  Cremens  vs.  Guest  Keen  &  Nettleford,  24,  T.  L.  R.    1S9   (1907). 

(e)  McKee  and  Others  vs.  Great  Northern  R.  R.  Co.,  42  Ir.  L.  T.  132 
(1908). 

(f)  Chitty  vs.  Nelson,  126  L.  T.  J.    172   (1908). 


EXTENSION    OF    COMPENSATION    PRINCIPLE  195 

tions  observed  in  construing  its  terms.     A  lady's  maid,   instances 

Showing 

while  sewing  for  her  mistress  near  an  open  window,  was  Distinction 

in  Application 

startled  by  a  ^^cockehafer,"  a  large  insect,  which  flew  of  Terms 
through  the  window.  Instinctively  throwing  up  her  hand 
at  its  approach,  the  maid  struck  her  eyeball  with  her 
own  thumb,  resulting  in  a  serious  impairment  of  the 
vision.  She  applied  for  compensation,  and  it  was  held 
that  while  the  injury  occurred  ^'in  the  course  of  employ- 
ment,'' it  did  not  "arise  out  of  it." (a)  A  teamster,  while 
lunching  on  his  employer's  premises,  was  bitten  by  the 
stable  cat.  Blood  poisoning  ensued  and  two  fingers  were 
subsequently  amputated.  This  was  held  by  the  Court 
of  Appeal  to  be  an  accident  '^arising  out  of  and  in  the 
course  of  employment,"  although  the  Court  intimated 
that  the  decision  might  have  been  otherwise  had  it  been 
shown  to  be  "a  strange  cat."(b) 

A  summary  of  the  principles  governing  the  applica- 
tion of  this  phrase  is  j^resented  by  Judge  Ruegg,  whose 
volume  on  the  Compensation  Act  of  1906  is  the  standard  principles 

Governing- 
authority.       He    concludes:  Application  of 

This   Language 

1.  That  the  onus  of  proving  both  that  the  accident 
arose  out  of,  and  in  the  course  of  the  employment,  rests 
upon  the  applicant. 

2.  That  the  accident  does  not  arise  out  of  and  in  the 
course  of  the  employment,  if  it  is  caused  by  the  workman 
doing  something  entirely  for  his  own  purposes;  or 

3.  The  same  result  follows  when  the  w^orkman  does 
something  which  is  no  part  of  his  duty  towards  his  em- 


(a)  Crdske  vs.  Wegan,  100  L.  T.    8    (1909). 

(b)  Rowland  vs.  Wright,  24  T.  L.  R.    852   (1908). 


196 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Instances 
Where 

Liability  May 
or  May  Not 
Exist 


ployer,  and  which  he  has  no  reasonable  grounds  for  think- 
ing it  was  his  duty  to  do. 

4.  The  accident  may  arise  out  of  and  in  the  course  of 
the  employment,  if  the  act  which  occasioned  it,  although 
not  strictly  in  the  scope  of  the  workman'^  employment,  is 
done  upon  an  emergency. 

5.  It  may  be  said  to  arise  out  of  the  employment  if, 
it  being  the  workman's  duty  to  do  the  act,  the  accident 
arises  from  his  doing  it  in  an  improper  manner. 

6.  It  may  arise  out  of  and  in  the  course  of  the  em- 
ployment, if  occurring  on  the  employer's  premises,  when 
the  workman  has  not  actually  commenced  his  work,  or 
after  he  has  finished. 

7.  It  may  arise  out  of  and  in  the  course  of  the  employ- 
ment, if,  the  workman's  duties  not  being  clearly  defined, 
he  may  reasonably  have  thought  it  a  duty  to  do  the  thing 
in  the  course  of  which  the  accident  occurred. 

8.  It  does  not  arise  out  of  and  in  the  course  of  the 
employment,  if  occasioned  by  the  willfully  tortious  act  of 
a  fellow-servant,  when  the  risk  of  such  an  act  cannot  be 
said  to  be  one  of  the  risks  incidental  to  the  service. 

9.  It  may  arise  out  of  and  in  the  course  of  the  employ- 
ment if,  though  occasioned  tortiously,  even  willfully,  by 
the  act  of  a  third  party,  the  risk  of  injury  from  such  acts 
is  found  to  be  one  of  the  risks  incidental  to  the  employ- 
ment, (a) 


(a)   Ruegg  Employers'  Liability    (8th  ed.),  P-  373. 


EXTENSION   OF   COMPENSATION    PRINCIPLE  197 

Probably  the  most  extensive  and  indeed  startling  de-  "Personal 

Injury  by 

grees  of  liability  arise  from  the  construction  of  the  term  Accident" 
"personal  injury  by  accident.''  This  language  is  identical 
witli  that  contained  in  tlie  preceding  Act  of  1897,  which 
had  resulted  in  mau}^  conflicting  decisions.  This  Avas 
doubtless  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  the  Courts  of  Appeal 
usually  supported  the  finding  of  an  arbitrator  as  to 
Avhether  a  particular  occurrence  was  or  was  not  an  acci- 
dent, this  on  the  ground  that  it  was  a  question  of  fact  and 
not  of  law.  This  difficulty  was  removed  at  a  later  date 
by  a  decision  of  the  House  of  Lords  that  the  meaning  of 
"accident,''  Avhen  applied  to  ascertained  facts,  was  a  ques- 
tion of  laAv.(a) 

The  earlier  decisions  seem  likewise  inclined  to  hold 
that  it  must  be  shown  that  tlie  injury  for  which  compensa- 
tion was  asked  found  its  proximate  and  immediate  cause 
in  the  accidental  occurrence.  Thus  a  number  of  instances 
were  presented  in  which  strain  and  over-exertion  accel- 
erated pre-existing  diseases  or  Avas  merely  the  occasion  of 
disability'.  Thus  we  find  in  these  earlier  cases  such  occur- 
rences as  these : 

A  boy  at  work  in  a  mine  is  frightened  by  the  colliery 
cat.  He  develops  St.  Vitus'  Dance,  and  it  is  held  to  be  an 
accident.  A  mouse  runs  up  a  miner's  leg,  bites  him,  and 
blood  poisoning  ensues,  held  not  to  be  an  accident.  A 
workman,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  his  duties,  lifts  a 
heavy  beam,  as  he  has  been  accustomed  to  doing,  and  in 
balancinjr  it  strains  the  muscles  of  his  back,  causing  dis- 


(a)    Fenton  vs.  Thorley  &  Co.  Ltd.,  19,  T.  L.  R.  ().S4. 


m^ 


ACCIDENT    PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Early  Difficul- 
ties of  Inter- 
pretation 


Authoritative 
Interpretation 
of   "Accident" 


ability,  Iield  to  be  an  accident,  (a)  A  workman  undertakes 
to  start  a  gas  engine  in  the  course  of  his  employment,  finds 
the  wheel  somewhat  hard  to  turn  owing  to  disuse,  and  in 
the  midst  of  his  exertions  vomits  blood  and  afterwards 
dies.  Medical  evidence  was  offered  to  show  that  death  was 
due  to  the  diseased  condition  of  the  man  s  body  and  not 
to  the  strain,  and  while  the  court  held  the  death  to  be  due 
to  disease,  it  considered  it  to  be  accelerated  by  the  strain, 
but  refused  to  hold  the  occurrence  an  "accident."  (b) 
Shortly  afterwards,  the  same  Court  of  Appeal  found  that 
a  workman  who  ruptured  himself  while  lifting  some  planks 
in  the  usual  course  of  his  employment,  suffered  an  injury 
"by  accident''  in  the  meaning  of  the  Act.(c) 

A  similar  case  was  at  length  presented  to  the  House  of 
Lords  for  final  decision,  (d)  A  workman,  in  turning  the 
wheel  of  a  machine  during  the  course  of  his  employment, 
over-exerted  and  ruptured  himself.  The  House  of  Lords 
held  that  the  word  "accident"  was  to  be  given  an  "ordinary 
and  colloquial"  meaning  and  defined  it  as  an  "unlooked 
for  mishap  or  an  untoward  event  which  is  not  expected  or 
designed."  "It  means,"  said  one  of  the  Law  Lords,  "any 
unintended  or  unexpected  occurrence  which  produces  hurt 
or  loss."  "This  case,"  says  Judge  Reugg,  "is  authority  for 
the  proposition  that  an  accident  need  not  be  a  fortuitous 
occurrence  in  the  sense  that  if  the  true  facts  had  been 
known  it  was  a  natural  result  of  the  thing  done  or  at- 
tempted." (a) 

(a)  Boardman  vs.  Scott  &  Whitworih,  1.  K.  B.  43. 

(b)  Hensey  vs.  White,  1.    Q.  B.  481. 

(c)  Timmins  vs.  L^eds  Forge  Co..  10  T.  L.  R.  521. 

(d)  Fenton  vs.  Thorley  &  Co.  Ltd.,  19  T.  L.  R.  C,^. 


EXTENSION    OF    COMPENSATION    PRINCIPLE  199 

In  1905,  a  workman  employed  in  sorting  wool  was  in- 
fected with  anthrax  from  contact  with  the  sheep  hides. 
He  died  and  compensation  was  refnsed  in  the  lower  courts  inclusion  of 

Infectious 

on   the  *>ronnd  that  his  death  was   due  to  disease.     On  i^^sease  as 

^  "Accident 

appeal  to  the  House  of  Lords,  this  infection  was  held  to 
be  "personal  injury  by  accident.- '(^)  There  was  a  strong 
dissent  by  a  minority  of  the  Law  Lords,  who  declared  that 
the  decision  involved  holding  that  all  diseases  caught  by 
workmen  in  the  course  of  their  employment  were  to  be  re- 
garded as  "accidents."  Doubtless,  as  a  result  of  this  de- 
cision, occupational  diseases  were  included  in  the  Act  of 
1906  by  specific  description,  but  the  case  remains  an  au- 
thority for  the  inclusion  of  infectious  and  possibly  con- 
tagious diseases  within  the  term  "accident." 

lUit  "accident"  was  logicall}^  marching  to  a  still  more 
far-reaching  application.     In  March,  1910,  the  following 

Injury 

striking  case  was  presented  to  the  House  of  Lords:     A  Accelerating 

Diseased 

workman,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  his  emplovment,  was  condition  iieid 

to  be  "Personal 

engraved  in  tiahteninir  a  nut   Avith  a  wrench.     His  task  injury  by 


'te^^te'-'^'^     ^*'     i.^^iii^iiiiij_, 


Accident" 


admittedly  required  only  ordinary  exertion,  but  in  this 
instance  that  amount  of  exertion  contributed  to  a  rupture 
of  the  aorta,  resulting  in  the  man's  death.  The  admitted 
facts  presented  in  the  higher  court  showed  the  man  to  be 
suffering  from  a  heart  affection  which  had  reached  such 
an  advanced  stage  that  any  slight  exertion  was  likely 
to  produce  a  rupture,  or  it  might  have  occurred  during 
the  man's  sleep.     The  county  judge  refused  compensation 


(a)  Ruegg  Employers"  Liability,  Sth  ed.,  p.  318. 

(b)  Rrintons  Ltd.  vs.  Turvey,  T.  L.  II.  444    (lOOr.). 


200  ACCIDENT   TREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

on  the  ground  that  death  was  due  to  disease  and  not  acci- 
dent. The  Court  of  Appeals  sustained  the  finding.  The 
House  of  Lords,  despite  a  strong  dissenting  opinion,  lield 
that  the  workman  had  died  from  personal  injury  by  acci- 
dent, within  the  meaning  of  the  Act.  (a)  The  prevailing 
opinion  lays  down  a  principle  pregnant  with  extreme  lia- 
bility ^^that  an  accident  arises  out  of  the  employment  when 
the  required  exertion  producing  the  accident  is  too  great 
for  the  man  undertaking  the  work,  whatever  the  degree 
of  exertion  or  the  condition  of  health." 

The  consequences  of  this  opinion  become  more  apparent 
Dissenting  from  reading  a  brief  extract  in  the  dissenting  opinions  of 

Opinions   of 

Law  Lords         Lords  Atkiusou  and  Shaw : 

^^The  death  of  the  deceased,''  says  the  former,  "so 
it  appears  to  me,  was  no  more  an  accident  than  if, 
had  he  been  a  butler,  he  died  walking  slowly  up  the 
stairs  in  the  house  in  which  he  served,  or,  had  he 
been  a  coachman,  he  died  while  slowly  mounting 
to  his  box.  It  may  be  possible  that  it  would  be  bet- 
ter in  the  interest  of  the  workmen  that  they  should 
be  entitled  to  compensation  for  all  injuries  which 
arise  out  of  and  in  the  course  of  their  emploj-ment 
however  caused,  though  it  is  far  from  clear,  since 
it  might  result  in  depriving  of  employment  all  who 
in  any  way  are  unsound  or  past  their  prime;  but 
while  the  word  ^accident'  remains  in  the  statute, 
force  and  meaning  must  be  given  to  it  in  construing 
the  statute,  and,  much  as  one  may  sympathize  with 
the  claimant,  I,  for  my  part,  was  unable  to  see  that 


(a)   Hughes  vs.  Clover,  Clayton  &  Co.,  25  T.  L.  R.  760  (1909). 


EXTENSION   OF   COMPENSATION   PRINCIPLE  201 

anything  which  Avas  not  normal  and  most  probable, 
•  if  not  certain^  befell  the  deceased." 

Lord  Shaw  concludes  thus : 

"On  these  facts  I  am    of    the  opinion  that  this 
workman  did  die  of  heart  disease.     There  was  noth- 
ing unusual  or  abnormal    in    the  work,  no  strain 
more  than  the  ordinary  was  imposed  or  involved; 
no  occurrence  took  place  to  intercept  or  even  dis- 
turb the  work  or  the  workman ;  all  that  can  be  said 
is  that  being  at  work  and  diseased,  he  died.     His 
death  was  caused,  in  my  view,  not  by  any  injury 
by  accident  but  simply  by  the  disease  under  which 
he  unhappily  suffered.'' 
Up  to  this  point  personal  injury  by  accident  had  at 
least  required  the  causing  or  occasioning  of  some  direct 
objective  injury  to  the  body.     Within  the  past  few  months, 
the  Court  of  Appeals  has  held  that  personal  injury  by  ac- 
cident may  result  from  mental  shock  or  fright  received  Mental  shock 

.  1       OJ*   Fright 

m  the  course  of  employment.     A  miner,  while  at  work,  Held  to  be 

"Accident" 

heard  an  outcry  from  an  adjacent  chamber.  Hurrying  to 
the  point,  lie  found  a  workman  partially  covered  by  a  fall 
of  rock,  unconscious,  severely  injured,  and  his  head 
covered  with  blood.  The  rescuer  hurried  the  wounded 
man  to  the  surface,  Avhere  he  died.  Subsequently,  the 
rescuer  alleges  that  he  was  so  affected  by  the  appearance 
and  peril  of  his  fellow  employe  that  he  was  incapacitated 
from  further  employment,  and  this  occurrence  the  Court 
of  Appeals  held  to  be  personal  injury  by  accident,  (a) 


(a)    Yates  vs.  South  Kirby,  Folkestone  &  Ilauswick  Collieries  Ltd.,  70 
L.  J.  K.  B.  1035   (July  1910). 


202  ACCIDENT    PREVENTION   AND    RELIEF 

From  these  decisions  it  becomes  apparent : 
Summary  of  1.  That  the  eniph)yer  must  pay  compensation  not  only 

Principles  f<>i*  disability  or  death,  of  whicli  injury  received  in  the 

course  of  employment  may  be  the  direct  and  proximate 
cause,  but  for  disability  or  death  to  which  such  injury 
may  have  been  only  a  contributing  factor*  or  a  remote  or 
indirect  cause  or  condition. 

2.  Tlmt  whatever  be  the  physical  condition  of  the 
workman,  the  employer  is  liable  for  any  disabling  effect 
produced  upon  him  by  the  normal  conditions  of  his  em- 
ployment and  for  death  resulting  from  pre-existing  disease, 
if  even  a  normal  circumstance  of  emplo^anent  accelerates 
its  fatal  termination. 

3.  The  employer  is  liable  for  infection  received  from 
materials  handled  in  the  course  of  emplo^^nent,  exclusive 
of  the  special  provisions  for  occupational  diseases. 

4.  The  employer  is  liable  for  the  consequences  of 
nervous  or  mental  shock  to  a  workman  when  arising  from 
the  circumstances  of  his  employment. 

Subject  to  the  provisions  with  respect  to  industrial 
diseases,  the  employer  is  not  liable  for  disease  gradually 
contracted  in  the  course  of  employment,  (a)  but  we  cannot 
more  than  conjecture  whether  he  would  be  liable  for  con- 
tagious disease  contracted  from  a  fellow  Avorker,  or  sudden 
sickness  arising  from  exposure  to  the  elements  under  the 
normal  conditions  of  his  employment,  even  though  such 
exposure  would  not  be  likely  to  harmfully  affect  a  nor- 
mally healthy  person.  The  liability  created  by  the  phrase 
"personal  injury  by  accident,"  while  vastlj^  greater  than 


(a)    Steel  vs.  Cammell,  Laird  &  Co.,  2  K.  B.  232. 

Broderiok  vs.  London  Co.    Council   (1008),  2  K.  B.  807. 


EXTENSION    OF   COMPENSATION    PRINCIPLE  203 

that  under  similar  language  at  the  common  law  or  by 
statute,  or  in  popular  acceptance  of  the  term,  is  as  yet 
incapable  of  definite  limitation.  Practically  it  covers 
much  disability  of  Avhich  disease  and  not  accident  is  the 
actual  cause.  It  comprehends  many  contingencies,  such 
as  death  from  a  lightning  stroke  suffered  by  a  bricklayer, 
(^hhat  could  not  have  been  in  the  mind  of  the  most  ex- 
treme advocate  of  compensatory  relief,  and  is  still  capable 
of  indefinite  extension. 

"Serious  and  willful  misconduct"  on  the  part  of  the  in-  "serious  and 

Willful 

jured  person  bars  recovery  of  compensation  only  when  tlie  Misconduct" 
injury  "does  not  result  in  serious  and  permanent  disability 
or  death."  The  workman's  right  of  recovery  is  therefore 
in  inverse  proportion  to  his  care  for  himself  and  others. 
Suicide  would  doubtless  bar  recovery,  as  it  would  neither 
be  an  "accident,"  nor  could  it  probably  be  said  to  "arise 
out  of  and  in  the  course  of  employment,"  but  short  of  self- 
destruction,  no  act  of  the  workman  prevents  compensation 
if  resulting  injury  causes  death  or  permanent  disability. 
This  limitation  upon  liability  ma^^  therefore  be  urged  as  a 
defense  only  to  claims  based  upon  tcmporanj  disability. 
Even  in  these  cases  it  has  been  pointed  out  that  the  mis- 
conduct, to  bar  compensation,  has  been  defined  in  con- 
junctive and  not  alternative  form.  It  must  be  both  serious 
and  willful. 

In  the  judgment  of  the  House  of  Lords  whetlier  or  not 
misconduct  is  "serious"  is  to  be  determined  from  its  nature 
and  not  from  its  consequences.  ^^^      Thus  if  a  person  be 


(a)  Andrew   vs.   Faihvorth    Industrial   Soc,   2   K.   B.   32. 

(b)  Johnson  vs.  Marshall,  Sons  &  Co.  Ltd.,  22  T.  L.  R.  5G.J 


204  ACCIDENT    PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 

seriously  injured  through  disobedience  of  a  trivial  rule, 
the  misconduct  will  not  be  deemed  "serious''  although  its 
consequences  to  the  injured  person  are  serious.  Thus  the 
courts  have  refused  to  hold  that  it  was  "serious  miscon- 
duct" to  use  appliances  or  property  forbidden  by  the  em- 
ployer or  even  that  every  breach  of  a  statiitory  duty  was 
"serious  misconduct.- '^^)  The  courts  have,  however, 
shown  a  strong  inclination  in  considering  a  charge  of 
serious  misconduct  to  regard  the  effect  of  the  injured  per- 
son's action  in  exposing  others  to  peril.  But  under  the 
limited  power  which  the  court  possesses  to  penalize  mis- 
conduct, however  it  may  expose  others  to  death  or  injury, 
it  can  but  slightly  discourage  reckless  action.  (^) 

Recklessness  rpj^^  most  scrious  iustauces  of  the  effect  of  this  pro- 

No  Bar  to 

Compensation  yisiou  ucvcr  rcach  a  public  record,  for  the  more  serious  the 
consequences  of  misconduct  to  the  injured  individual,  the 
more  certain  becomes  his  compensation.  If  a  boiler  was  ex- 
ploded through  the  criminal  carelessness  of  an  intoxicated 
engineer  or  fireman,  it  might  demolish  the  plant,  bring 
ruin  as  well  as  death  to  the  employer,  fatal  or  serious  in- 
jury to  many  employes,  but  the  cause  of  the  catastrophe, 
if  disabled  for  life  or  killed,  would  find  himself  or  his  de- 
pendents a  preferred  creditor  against  the  employer's  es- 
tate, and  his  claim  would  be  on  the  same  footing  with  that 
of  his  fellow^  workmen  to  whom  he  had  brought  death  or 
injur3^  No  sound  sj^stem  of  law  can  afford  to  tolerate, 
much  less  encourage,  personal  recklessness,  nor  can  it  be 
either  just  or  even  decent  to  make  an  individual  liable 
for  the  consequences  of  that  misconduct  in  another  which 


(a)   Johnson  vs.  Marshall,  Sons  &  Co.    Ltd.,  22.  T.  L.  R.  565  (1906). 

Also,  George  vs.  Glasgow  Coal  Co.,  25  T.   L.  R.  57    (1909). 
(b)   Bist  vs.  London  &  S.  W.  R.  R.  Co.,  A.  C.  209. 
Brooker  vs.  W'arren,  23  T.   L.  R.  201. 


EXTENSION    OF    COMPENSATION    PRINCIPLE  205 

^lo  liimian  effort  can  avoid.  It  is  not  onl}^  a  principle  ab- 
horrent to  justice  and  moralit}',  but  from  the  mere  stand- 
point of  expediency,  it  defeats  one  of  the  primary  pur- 
poses of  all  compensatory  legislation — the  lessening  of 
the  number  and  degree  of  accidents.  It  illustrates  as 
powerfully  as  any  single  circumstance  can  how  insistently 
the  English  legislation  strives  to.  make  some  one  person- 
ally liable  for  every  injury  received  at  Avork,  and  how  little 
effort  is  made  to  avert  the  consequences  it  would  alleviate. 

The  Act  of  1906  includes  certain  industrial  diseases  compensation 

for  Industrial 

arising  out  of  employment  and  provides,  where  they  occur,  Disease 
that  they  are  to  be  legally  considered  in  accordance  with 
their  effect,  as  personal  injury,  or  death,  caused  by  ac- 
cident. Six  diseases  were  specified  in  the  Act,  and  the 
Secretary  of  State  was  given  wide  power  to  make  orders, 
adding  other  diseases  to  those  enumerated.  Under  this 
power  he  has  added  eighteen  to  the  first  six,  making  twenty- 
four  occupational  diseases  for  which  compensation  may  be 
had.  (a) 

To  claim  compensation  under  these  provisions,  the  dis- 
ease must : 

1.  Be  one  named  in  the  Act  or  subsequent  orders  of 
the  Secretary  of  State. 

2.  The  workman  must  have  been  suspended  from  his 
work  on  account  of  having  contracted  such  disease,  under 
special  regulations  which  have  been  provided;  or 

3.  It  must  be  certified  by  a  physician  appointed  for 
the  district  in  which  he  is  employed  that  he  suffers  from 
one  of  the  enumerated  occupational  diseases,  which  dis- 
ables him  from  earning  full  wages;  or 


(a)    Statutory  Rules  &  Orders  1007.    No.  407. 


206 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Proceedings 
for  Compens 
tion  Subject 
to   no 
Limitation 
of  Time 


Admirable 
Administration 
of  Act  by 
British  Judges 


Protection  of 
"Lump  Sum" 
Payments 


4.  In  case  of  death,  it  must  be  shown  that  it  was  caused 
by  such  disease.  ^^^ 

It  should  also  be  noticed  as  a  contributing  element 
to  the  uncertainty  of  liability  that  while  there  is  a  limit 
of  time,  subject  to  extension  within  the  discretion  of  the 
arbitrator,  within  which  notice  of  accidents  must  be  given 
and  claim  for  compensation  made,  there  is  no  limit  of 
time  within  which  proceedings  to  establish  a  claim  for 
compensation  must  be  brought.  The  workman  having  as- 
serted his  claim  may  attempt  to  enforce  it  whenever  he 
pleases. 

The  administration  of  the  Act  presents  some  admirable 
features.  Employer  and  employe  are  left  in  the  first  in- 
stance to  apply  its  terms  to  themselves.  Until  they  have 
failed  to  do  so,  there  is  no  dispute  of  which  a  court  can 
take  notice.  Even  then  it  cannot  do  so  as  a  court,  but 
only  as  a  tribunal  of  arbitration.  The  parties  are  free  to 
select  their  own  arbitrator,  but  as  a  matter  of  practice, 
substantially  all  arbitrations  are  had  in  the  county  courts, 
and  the  promptness  and  dispatch  with  which  claims  are 
adjusted  present  an  enviable  example  of  the  very  high 
character  of  British  judicial  efficiency. 

Under  a  practice  which  has  become  an  established  cus- 
tom in  the  supervision  of  lump  sum  payments,  county 
court  judges  have  become  the  trustees  of  large  sums  paid 
into  their  courts  for  the  benefit  of  dependents.  To  pro- 
tect the  interest  of  minor  children  and  prevent  the  dis- 
sipation by  parents  or  guardians  of  money  awarded  partly 
for  their  benefit,  county  court  judges  exercise  a  wide  dis- 
cretion in  supervising  the  expenditure  of  lump  sum  pay- 
ments.    While  the  control  of  these  funds  by  the  courts  is 

(a)   Ruegg  Employers'"  Liability,  8th  ed.,  p.  330. 


EXTENSION    OF    COMPENSATION    PRINCIPLE  207 

•a  protection  against  their  dissipation,  it  nevertheless  il- 
lustrates the  nndesirabilit}'  of  permitting  lump  sum  pay- 
ments instead  of  fixed  instalments,  variable  only  under 
unusual  circumstances,  for  the  ascertainment  of  which 
due  provision  is  readily  made. 

The  execution  of  the  Act  is  supposed  to  be  aided  by  a 
number  of  supplementary  rules  and  forms,  much  more 
complex  than  seem  desirable.  Mr.  Thomas  Beven,  whose 
work  on  "Negligence"  has  been  a  standard  authority  at 
the  English  bar  for  many  years,  criticizes  this  feature  of 
the  legislation  in  the  following  language: 

"The  Workmen's  Compensation  Act  was  at  first  supplementary 
intended  to  be  so  simple  that  a  workman,  without  criticized 
aid  or  counsel  or  solicitor,  should  be  able  to  get  the 
advantage  it  gives  him  from  his  employer.  To 
work  out  this  object,  a  power  to  make  rules  is  given 
to  a  body  of  county  court  judges.  Tlieir  first  effort 
in  simplifying  produces  85  rules,  some  of  which 
meander  through  pages  of  print,  and  are  made,  if 
it  were  possible,  more  intolerable  by  67  forms  at- 
tached to  them  by  way  of  appendix.  Then,  within 
a  twelve-month,  pages  more  of  rules  and  forms  are 
produced.  The  Treasury  joins  in  showering  its 
benefit  of  rules  on  the  workman,  and  so  does  the 
Home  Secretary,  and  so  do  Treasury  and  Home 
Secretary  jointly,  and  so  does  the  Registrar  of 
Friendly  Societies.'' (a) 
The  administrative  features  of  the  Act,  particularly 
its  provisions  for  arbitration,  are  full  of  instructive  sug- 


(a)    Beven  on  Workmen's  Compensation,  4th  ed.,  Preface  XIII. 


208  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

gestion,  but  the  liabilities  which  it  creates  go  far  beyond 
Summary  the  legal  disabilities  which  it  sought  to  remove.     Techni- 

callj,  its  language  suffers  from  the  uncured  defects  ap- 
parent in  the  Act  of  1897,  for,  in  the  words  of  the  Law 
Lords,  the  Act  "does  not  seem  to  have  had  the  benefit  of 
careful  revision."  (a)  But  what  is  far  m#re  serious  than 
verbal  deficiencies,  it  betrays,  as  we  have  seen,  elements 
of  grave  injustice.  It  fails  to  provide  a  single  liability, 
holding  in  the  background  the  speculative  threat  of  pro- 
ceedings at  the  common  law  or  by  statute.  It  covers  in- 
validity whilst  aimed  at  accident.  The  obligations  it 
creates  are  vast  but  indefinite,  certain  only  in  the  gravity 
of  their  burden  and  the  surety  of  their  capacity  for  in- 
determinate extension.  It  is  axiomatic  that  want  of  cer- 
tainty as  to  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  liability  it  creates 
is  the  most  serious  and  costly  defect  of  any  legislation. 
It  weighs  more  heavily  than  high  but  definite  obligation, 
for  the  greater  the  uncertainty  of  statutory  duty,  the  more 
rapidly  do  insurance  premiums  rise  to  cover  the  contin- 
gencies of  its  future  interpretation  and  expansion. 


(a)   Fenton  vs.  Thorley  &  Co.  Ltd.,  A.  C.  448. 


CHAPTER    ELEVEN 

Gritisn     Compensation     Statistics.         Tke    Neglect    to    RecorJ 

tlie     Operation     of     tLe     Earlier    Acts     Incompletely 

Remedied  oy  Partial  Information  Required 

Concerning    tLe    Act    of    1906 


CHAPTER  XI 

British  Compensation  Statistics.     The  Neglect  to 

Record  the   Operation   of  the   Earlier  Acts 

Incompletely    Remedied    by    Partial 

Information  Required  Concerning 

THE  Act  of  1906 

We  turn  from  consideration  of  the  chief  provisions  of 
the  Compensation  Act  eager  to  learn  the  effect  of  their 
application.  We  have  observed  that  in  Germany  and  gen- 
erally throughout  Europe,  each  step  in  the  course  of  legis- 
lation proceeds  from  carefully  compiled  information  which 
is  being  continually  renewed.  The  Briton  began  by  avow- 
edly experimenting  with  unfamiliar  principles.  Let  us 
notice  the  provision  made  for  observing  the  manner  in 
which  tlie  experiment  worked,  the  quality  of  the  data 
gathered,  the  extent  of  the  field  which  it  covered  and  the 
light  which  it  throws  upon  the  operation  of  these  prin- 
ciples. 

In  1908  the  British  Home  Office  thus  comments  upon  "Home  office* 

Commentary 

the  existing  record  of  ten  years  of  compensation  experi-  on  statistics 


ence : 


Act  of  1897 


"The  ten  volumes  of  statistics  issued  under  the 
earlier  acts  of  1897  and  1900  had  reference  to  only 
the  seven  groups  of  industries  to  which  these  acts 
applied,  and  to  causes  of  injury  or  accident  occur- 

211 


212 


ACCIDENT    PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 


Lack  of 
Statistical 
Data 

Respefcting 
Operation  of 
Act  of  1897 


ring  in  these  industries;  and  the  information  given 
was,  in  the  absence  of  any  way  of  requiring  returns 
from  employers,  limited  to  such  information  as  to 
the  administration  of  the  Act  as  could  be  obtained 
from  the  county  courts."  (^) 
This  statistical  fragment  was  then  th%  only  record  of 
the  operation  of  the  Act  of  1897  in  the  possession  of  the 
Government,  beyond  the  report  of  the  Departmental  Com- 
mittee of  1901,  yet  there  is  little  evidence  that  the  con- 
clusions and  recommendations  of  the  committee  exercised 
much  influence  on  the  provisions  of  the  Act  of  1906. 
Against  its  recommendations  the  waiting  period,  during 
which  compensation  was  not  paid,  was  reduced  from  two 
weeks  to  one,  with'  corresponding  increase  of  liability,  and 
the  maimed  and  elderly  were  left  to  struggle  for  employ- 
ment under  distressing  conditions,  which  the  committee 
pointed  out  and  without  the  mitigating  remedies  it  ad- 
vised. Against  the  strongly  expressed  opinions  of  the 
committee,  new  liabilities  of  an  indefinite  nature  were 
added  to  anomalies  and  vague  obligations  which  were 
criticized.  Even  the  complete  failure  to  make  any  pro- 
vision for  compiling  information  of  the  operation  of  the 
Act  remained  uncorrected  until  1907,  when  the  defect  was 
for  the  first  time  partially  but  incompletely  remedied. 
As  the  Home  Office  report  of  1908  admits,  prior  to  that 
year  there  was  no  record  of  even  the  cases  in  which  com- 
pensation was  paid,  beyond  that  small  number,  estimated 
between  some  six  and  seven  per  cent  of  the  whole,  which 
became,  during  the  course  of  a  year,  the  subject  matter 
of  litigation.    Of  the  93  or  91  per  cent  in  which  an  award 


(a)    Statistics  of  Compensation,  etc.,  during  1909    (Home   Office)    cd. 


4S94. 


BRITISH   COMPENSATION  STATISTICS  213 

was  agreed  upon  by  the  parties  concerned,  there  is  no  re- 
port. Tlie  number  and  character  of  such  cases  is  only  to 
be  conjectured  from  individual  estimates  based  upon  the 
incomplete  records  of  the  insurance  companies ;  their  num- 
ber can  merely  be  guessed  at,  their  story  is  lost.  From 
1897  to  1908  all  that  one  would  seek  to  know^  concerning 
the  consequences  of  a  great  piece  of  social  legislation  must 
be  gathered  from  indiscriminate  private  sources.  No  pub- 
lic record  exists  from  which  can  be  gleaned  the  pecuniary 
burden  placed  upon  general  or  specific  employments,  the 
proportionate  cost  of  insurance  to  compensation  paid,  the 
ratio  of  injury  in  the  industries  affected,  or  any  of  those 
essential  circumstances  which  could  give  knowledge  of 
how  the  experiment  worked.  The  possession  of  such  data, 
their  compilation,  analysis  and  study  would  alone  seem  to 
have  provided  a  guide  to  the  further  extension  of  tentative 
legislation.  But  no  such  statistics  w^ere  had  during  ten 
years;  although  the  defect  was  pointed  out  no  attempt 
was  made  to  remedy  the  condition.  The  Act  of  1906  can 
therefore  be  said  to  have  extended  its  principles  to  prac- 
tically all  employments,  without  detailed  knowledge  of  the 
effects  which  had  been  produced  within  the  prior  area  of 
their  activity. 

The  new  measure,  however,  offered  evidence  of  a  public 

Provision  for 

recognition  of  the  statistical  deficiencies  we  have  noticed,  compiling 

Information 

It  contained  a  provision  requiring  employers  ^'to  make  re-  Respecting- 
turns  as  to  the  number  of  injuries  in  respect  to  which 
compensation  was  paid,  the  amount  of  compensation  and 
such  other  particulars  as  the  Secretary  of  State  may  by 
order  direct." (^)  Thus  an  opportunity  was  afforded  for  the 
accumulation  of  complete  detailed  information.     But  the 

(aTSec.  12. 


214 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND   RELIEF 


Information 
Required  Only 
from    Limited 
Number  of 
Industries 


Secretary  of  State,  despite  the  fact  that  the  new  legisla- 
tion covered  practically  every  employment  in  Great 
Britain,  confined,  and  continues  to  confine,  requirement 
and  request  for  information  to  seven  groups  of  industries, 
namely:  Mines,  quarries,  factories,  harbors,  docks,  con- 
structional work  and  shipping,  excluding  from  the  last 
sailing  vessels  in  the  sea-fishing  service,  and  from  "con- 
structional work,"  the  whole  field  of  activities  included  in 
the  erection,  repair  and  demolition  of  buildings.  This  de- 
liberate rejection  of  information  is  explained  by  the  state- 
ment that  the  industries  enumerated  by  their  concentrated 
character,  "afforded  the  possibility  of  obtaining  returns 
sufficiently  complete  and  accurate  to  be  of  value."  ^^^ 

The  acts  of  1897  and  1900  applied  only  to  railways, 
factories,  mines,  quarries,  engineering  work,  building 
and  agriculture.  A  comparison  of  the  industries  included 
in  the  order  of  the  Secretary  of  State  with  those  to  which 
the  former  legislation  applied,  makes  it  apparent  that  in 
five  groups  of  employment  an  attempt  is  being  made  to 
gather  information  equally  obtainable,  and  if  anything 
more  valuable  than  during  the  ten  years  which  had  passed. 
The  returns  required  do  not  cover  all  the  industries  af- 
fected by  the  old  legislation  much  less  the  new.  Nothing 
is  asked  from  the  building  industries,  or  agriculture,  in- 
land transportation,  including  street  railways,  omnibus, 
cab  or  motor  service,  all  forms  of  domestic  and  clerical 
service,  and  a  variety  of  smaller  employments  to  which 
the  law  was  extended. 

Insurance  companies  estimate  from  the  British  census 
of  1901  and  later  calculations,  that  not  less  than  13,000,- 
000   persons   are   included   within   the  provisions  of   the 

(a)    Statistics  of  Compensation  during  1008.    Introduction  p.   3. 


BRITISH  COMPENSATION  STATISTICS  215 

Act  of  1906.     The  Departmental  Committee,  in  the  course  Estimate  of 
of  its  report,  estimated  the  number  of  persons  within  the  p^rTons  ° 
terms  of  the  Acts  of  1897  and  1900  at  7,250,000.     It  is  UTTJoq 
therefore  obvious  that  if  complete  returns  were  received 
from  the  industries  selected,  but  little  more  than  60  per 
cent  of  the  operation  of  the  Act  is  presented. 

Let  us  now  examine  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  in- 
formation received  by  the  British  Home  Office  and  issued 
for  the  years  1908  and  1909  as  "Statistics  of  Compensa- 
tion and  Proceedings  under  the  Workman's  Compensation 
Act  of  1906.'' (a) 

The  Compensation  Act  of  1906  did  not  become  effective 
until  July  1907.  We  are  therefore  to  receive  the  dis- 
closures of  the  first  two  years  of  its  operation.  The  report 
of  the  second  year  is  expected  to  cover  deficiencies  and 
difficulties  officially  recognized  to  attach  to  the  returns 
of  the  first  year.  It  may  therefore  be  assumed  to  represent 
the  most  complete  information  we  can  expect. 

Table  1  summarizes  the  comparative  statistics  of  summary  of 
compensation  supplied  by  the  Home  Office  for  the  years  Acrof"i906^ 
1908  and  1909.     We  must  form  some  estimate  as  to  their  ?„Y^^^7t«r 

1908  and  1909 

character  and  completeness  before  we  proceed  to  lise  their 
contents  as  the  basis  of  subsequent  conclusions. 

The  report  informs  us  that  the  Secretary  of  State, 
under  the  powers  conferred  upon  him  by  the  Act  of  1906, 
has  required  limited  statistics  of  compensation  from  the 
seven  groups  of  industries  heretofore  enumerated,  to- 
gether with  general  statistics,  "similar  to  those  given  in 
previous  years  in  regard  to  the  administration  (b)  of  the 
Act.  The  statistics  of  administration  are  therefore  con- 
fined  to    the   number    and    character    of    litigated    cases 


(a)  Cd.  4894.    Cd.  538G.  ' 

(b)  Statistics  Compensation  during  1908.    Introduction  p.  3. 


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BRITISH  COMPENSATION  STATISTICS  217 

under  the  Act,  the  coiiinion  law  and  the  employers'  liability 
statutes. 

The  particulars  required  from  the  seven  groups  of  in-  information 
dustries  are :  Required 

from 

A.  The  number  of  fatal  accidents  in  which  compensa-  u^er°Ac7i90G 
tion  was  paid  during  the  year,  and  the  amount,  distin- 
guishing  cases   where   persons   wholly    dependent,    cases 

where  persons  partly  dependent  and  cases  where  no  de 
pendents  were  left. 

B.  Tlie  number  of  disablement  cases  in  which  compen- 
sation was  paid,  distinguishing  cases  continued  from  pre- 
vious years  and  cases  in  Avhich  the  payment  was  made 
during  the  year. 

C.  The  duration  of  the  compensation  in  disablement 
cases. 

D.  The  settlements  of  disablement  cases  by  lump  sum 
payments.  (^^ 

Separate  information  was  also  asked  concerning  the 
number  and  nature  of  cases  of  industrial  disease,  and  the 
amount  of  compensation  paid  therein. 

The  nature  of  these  interrogatories  precludes  data  information 
respecting  the  comparative  quantity,  character  and  cost 
of  insurance  carried,  the  medical  and  legal  expense  con- 
nected with  the  adjustment  of  claims,  the  causes  of  acci- 
dent and  its  comparative  distribution,  or  other  facts  enab- 
ling a  substantial  calculation  of  the  pecuniary  burden  of 
the  Act  to  be  made. 

Unsatisfactory  as  is  the  nature  of  the  information 
elicited,  it  is,  by  the  intrinsic  evidence  of  the  report  itself, 
incomplete  within  its  own  limitations.  The  report  for 
1908,  alluding  to  the  collective  returns  of  compensation 

(n)    Statistics  Compensation  during  1908,  p.  4. 


218 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND    RELIEF 


Evident 
Incompleteness 
of  British 
Statistics  of 
Compensation 


declares:  "Of  the  whole  of  the  industries  covered  by  the 
order,  they  account  for  69  per  cent  of  the  fatal  cases,  and 
71.10  per  cent  of  the  compensation;  73  per  cent  of  the 
disablement  cases  and  74.10  per  cent  of  the  compensa- 
tion." (a) 

Respecting  the  same  condition  the  repori  for  1909  does 
not  show  a  marked  improvement.  It  accounts,  within 
the  same  groups  of  employments,  for :  "73  per  cent  of  the 
fatal  cases  and  73.5  per  cent  of  the  compensation;  73.7 
per  cent  of  the  disablement  cases  and  75.8  per  cent  of  the 
compensation."  (b) 

Having  deliberately  narrowed  their  investigation  to 
60  per  cent  of  the  employments  affected  by  the  Act,  the 
returns  of  the  Home  Office  are,  within  this  circumscribed 
field,  from  25.90  per  cent  to  31  per  cent  incomplete  for 
the  year  1908  and  from  24.02  per  cent  to  27  per  cent 
incomplete  for  the  year  1909.  It  is  not,  therefore,  un- 
fair to  say  that  the  statistics  of  the  British  Home  Of- 
fice account  for  less  than  50  per  cent  of  the  complete 
operation  of  the  Act.  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  within 
one  or  more  of  the  seven  general  groups  of  industries 
covered,  the  returns  in  single  sub-divisions  are  probably 
90  per  cent  complete,  but  the  substantial  completeness 
of  the  information  respecting  a  fractional  division  of  a 
single  industry  does  not,  and  cannot  cure  inadequate 
general  statements,  and,  in  many  cases,  the  complete 
absence  of  information  respecting  a  whole  employment. 

Upon  these  insufficient  returns  the  cost  of  compensa- 
tion to  the  seven  groups  of  industries,  individually  and 
collectively,  is  calculated  and  asserted  upon  a  principle 
of  estimate  as  erroneous  as  its  basic  data  are  incomplete. 

(a)  Statistics  Compensation  during  1008,  p.  4. 

(b)  Statistics  Compensation  during  1909,  p.  4. 


BRITISH  COMPENSATION  STATISTICS  219 

The  statistician  of  the  Home  Office  divides  the  total  amount  Erroneous 

Computation 

of  compensation  reported  to  have  been  paid  in  an}-  single  of  cost  of 

.  Compensation 

mdustiy,  or  in  all,  by  the  total  number  of  persons  re- 
ported to  have  been  employed  therein,  and  concludes  that 
he  has  arrived  at  the  cost  of  the  legislation  for  each  per- 
son employed  under  it.(^)  There  is  indication,  however, 
that  in  some  instances  the  number  of  persons  employed 
is  figured  from  sources  other  than  the  returns,  which 
would  add  further  errors  of  fact  to  those  of  process.  But 
quite  apart  from  such  irregularities  it  must  be  evident 
that  the  pecuniary  burden  of  the  law  to  any  particular 
industry,  or  to  all  employments,  is  to  be  estimated  not 
by  the  total  sum  paid  in  compensation  claims,  nor  by 
the  amount  which  that  represents  for  each  individual 
employed,  but  by  the  total  amount  of  premiums  paid  for 
the  insurance  of  all  Avorkmen  in  a  given  service,  or  the 
risk  carried  hj  the  individual  who  does  not  insure  his 
liability  expressed  in  the  insurance  term  for  that  risk. 

The  truth  of  this  becomes  clearer  if  we  recall  that  it  is  Fallacy 

of   Method 

a  frequent  complaint  against  our  own  system,  that  under  illustrated 
it  only  40  per  cent  or  50  per  cent  of  the  premiums  paid  Experience 
by  the  employer  to  insure  his  liability  reaches  the  injured 
Avorkman.  It  must  therefore  be  obvious  that  any  calculation 
of  the  cost  of  employers'  liability  insurance  in  the  United 
States,  based  upon  the  amounts  paid  to  the  injured  per- 
son, would  fall  short  of  the  fact  by  the  difference  be- 
tween the  premiums  paid  to  the  underwriter  and  the 
amount  which  he  expended  in  the  settlement  of  claims. 
It  would  be  equally  fallacious  to  figure  the  cost  of  insur- 
ance per  employe  by  dividing  the  amount  paid  in  claims 
by  the  number  of  persons  employed  in  the  industry  in 


(a)    Statistics  Compensation  during  1000,  p.  4. 


220 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Burden   of 
the  Act 
Displayed 
in  British 
Statistics 


Discrepancies 
in  Factory 
Accidents 


which  the  claim  Avas  paid.  It  must  be  therefore  evident 
that  the  conclusions  reached  in  the  British  reports,  re- 
specting the  pecuniary  burden  of  the  Act,  are  based  upon 
an  utterly  erroneous  principle  of  calculation. 

Taken  upon  their  face  value,  the  returns  compiled  in 
Table  1  suggest  somewhat  startling  conclusions  as  to 
the  probable  extent  and  nature  of  the  real  pecuniary 
burden  created  by  the  Act.  The  figures  for  1908  are 
based  upon  returns  covering  7,500,000  emplo^^es,  showing 
compensation  to  have  been  paid  in  a  total  of  328,957 
cases,  or,  on  the  face  of  the  returns,  one  case  of  compen- 
sation for  substantially  every  twenty-two  employes.  For 
1909  the  same  groups  of  industries  shoAv  compensation 
to  have  been  paid  in  335,953  instances  with  hut  6/)O0fi0O 
employes,  or  one  payment  for  every  19  employes 
reported.  With  1,000,000  less  employes,  tlie  second  year 
of  the  operation  of  the  Act  shows  6,996  additional  cases 
of  compensation. 

We  are  further  informed  that  in  the  factory  indus- 
tries in  1909  there  were  744  instances  in  which  compen- 
sation was  paid  in  fatal  cases  and  123,134  disablement 
cases.  For  the  same  year  but  700  fatal  cases  were  re- 
ported under  the  Factory  Act.  In  the  Compensation 
Report  itself  it  declared,  with  respect  to  the  factories: 
"On  a  rough  estimate  the  number  of  reported  accidents 
which  disabled  for  more  than  seven  days  would  seem  not 
to  have  exceeded  100,000.^^  (a) 

Yet  compensation  was  paid  in  23,134  instances  in 
excess  of  the  estimate !  These  discrepancies  are  explained 
in  the  report  by  the  statement  that  the  compensation 
returns  covered  a  "somewhat  wider  field  than  the  returns 

(a)    Statistics  Compensation  durini?  1909,  p.   7. 


BRITISH    COMPENSATION    STATISTICS  221 

under  the  Factory  Act,  the  latter  relating  only  to  em- 
ployment in  the  factory,  while  for  the  purpose  of  com- 
pensation returns  all  persons  engaged  hy  the  employer 
in  connection  with  the  industry  carried  on  in  the  factory, 
^outside'  as  well  as  inside  hands  would  be  included." ^^^ 

This  plausible  explanation  must  face  its  own  figures 
respecting  "outside  employes,"  who  are  enumerated  at 
283,638/^)  Therefore,  to  accept  the  explantion  offered  for 
the  discrepancy  between  the  excess  of  compensation 
awarded  over  accidents  reported  or  estimated,  we  must 
assume  at  least  one  in  eleven  of  the  "outside"  employes 
not  only  to  have  been  injured,  but  disabled  for  at  least 
seven  days!  While  of  no  great  importance  in  itself,  the 
incident  illustrates  the  dissatisfaction  attendant  upon  a 
perusal  of  the  report. 

Not  only  with  respect  to  accidents,  but  also  to  Indus-  Marked 
trial  disease  there  exists  the  same  evidence  of  an  increas-  Q^'^/J^'^auonai 
ing  number  of  compensation  cases  accompanying  a  de-  Disease 
creasing  number  of  emplo^-es.     The  report  for  1908  gives 
2,286  cases  of  occupational  disease  for  which  compensa- 
tion was  paid;(c)  1999  giiows  3,316  cases,  an  increase  of 
1,060  cases  in  which  compensation  was  paid.(^) 

Accepted  upon  their  face  value,  the  returns  would 
indicate  that  injury  and  compensation  were  practically 
equivalent  terms.  If  compensation  payments  thus  in- 
crease as  employment  decreases  one  must  become  lost  in 
a  maze  of  speculation  as  to  the  proportion  which  will  be 
shown  with  increasing  employment. 

The  record  of  judicial  arbitration  under  the  Act, 
Table  2,  presents  most  interesting  features.  Of  328,957 
cases  in  which  compensation  w^as  paid  in  1908,  but  5,358 

(a)  Statistics  Compensation  during  1909,  p.  7. 

(b)  Statistics   Compensation   during  1909,   p.   S. 

(c)  Statistics  Compensation  during  1908,  p.  12. 

(d)  Statistics  Compensation  during  1909,  p.     1. 


222  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

TABLE  2 
OPERATION  OF  THE  ACT  OF  1906. 

STATISTICS      OF      COMPENSATION      BRITISH      HOME      OFFICE 

REPORTS.  • 

COMPENSATION     CASES     ARBITRATED     IN     COUNTY     COURTS, 

1908.-9. 

Employments                                                                      1909  1908 

Professional    Employments 29  19 

Commercial    Occupations    12  19 

Shop  Assistants  118  121 

Domestic  Servants   432  368 

Seamen   359  326 

Fishermen   19  17 

Agriculture    265  284 

Building 637  543 

Factories    and    Workshops    1,820  1,440 

Docks,   Wharves   and    Quays    315  275 

Mines    1,255  1,057 

Quarries     87  66 

Constructional  Work    (excluding  Building)    177  129 

Railways 176  250 

Inland  Transport  ty  Road 379  362 

Inland    Transport   by   Water 48  29 

Miscellaneous    60  53 

Total    = 6,188  5.358 


BRITISH  COMPENSATION  STATISTICS  223 

v\'ere  taken  into  court,  and  of  these  1,563  were  withdrawn  Litigation 

under  Act  of 

or  settled.  Of  335,953  cases  in  which  compensation  was  i906 
paid  in  1909,  but  6,188  were  taken  into  court,  and  of  these 
1,789  were  withdrawn  or  settled  out  of  court.  For  1909 
^^it  appears  that  the  number  of  claims  to  compensation 
which  have  been  settled  judicially  is  less  than  one  to  five 
in  fatal  cases,  and  less  than  one  to  two  hundred  in  cases 
of  disablement.'' (^) 

It  is  apparent  that  during  both  1908  and  1909  more 
than  one-third  of  all  the  cases  taken  into  court  came  from 
employments  which  are  not  covered  by  the  returns  of  the 
Home  Office,  a  circumstance  affording  further  evidence 
of  the  great  number  of  cases  and  circumstances  of  com- 
pensation which  are  officially  overlooked. 

It  is  very  interesting  to  observe  that  the  proportion  Proportion  of 
of  cases   in  which   the  applicant  for   compensation  was  compensation 
successful  in  proceedings  in  court  was  79  per  cent  in  1909,  ^^^^^^^~  i^ 
82   per  cent   in   1908   and  81   per  cent   in    1907.     From  Legal  Actions 
various  other  features  of  the  Act  which  we  have  hereto- 
fore considerd,  it  becomes  impossible  to  conclude  whether 
the  tremendous   percentage  of   compensation   claims   ad- 
justed out  of  court  are  due  in  any  great  measure  to  its 
essential  equity,  or  to  the  prudence  of  the  employer  who 
refuses,  by  contest,  to  add  the  further  costs  of  a  hopeless 
defense  to  the  substantial  certainty  of  an  award.     That 
workmen  are  content  to  accept  the  certainties  of  the  Com- 
pensation Act  as  against  the  speculative  possibilities  of 
recovery  under  the  Employers'  Liability  Act,  seems  evi- 
dent from  the  fact  that  in  1909  there  were  but  204  actions 
brought  under  that  statute  as  against  260  for  1908,  343 
for  1907,  and  470  for  1906.  (b) 


(a)  Statistics    Compensation    during    IDOO,    p,    .3. 

(b)  Statistics   Compensation   during   1909,   p.   16. 


224 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND   RELIEF 


Conclusions 

Respecting 

British 

Compensation 

Statistics 


The  continuous  neglect,  almost  refusal,  to  collect 
accessible  and  essential  information  respecting  the  Com- 
pensation Acts  is  an  English  political  conundrum.  Even 
the  smaller  Continental  States  studied  their  limited  ap- 
plication of  these  principles  with  painstaking  earnestness 
and  care.  But  here  is  the  puzzling  spectocle  of  a  nation 
in  the  "foremost  files  of  time,"  proverbially  suspicious  of 
legal  innovation,  introducing  into  her  ancient  system 
principles  alien  to  her  traditions  and  professedly^  giving 
them  trial,  yet  making  no  serious  provision  to  observe 
the  result  of  her  bold  experiment.  Under  these  circum- 
stances the  continued  practice  of  these  ideas  during  a 
long  period  of  years  is  surprising,  but  their  extension 
practically  to  the  limits  of  Parliamentary  power  with  no 
scientific  knowledge  upon  which  to  base  the  legislative 
action  is  amazing.  Accurate  knowledge  is  the  basis  of 
all  rational  action.  To  act  without  it  is  to  grope  in  the 
dark.  These  defects  of  method  are  widely  recognized  in 
England,  but,  strange  to  say,  they  continue,  as  Ave  have 
observed,  inadequately  remedied.  The  nature  and  ex- 
tent of  the  latest  official  inquiry  into  the  operation  of  the 
Act  of  1906,  is,  we  have  seen,  incomplete  and  inconclu- 
sive and  can  supply  merely  that  half  knowledge  which  is 
neither  satisfactorv  nor  scientific. 


CHAPTER   TWELVE 

Insurance  Under  tke  Compensation  Act 


CHAPTER  XII 
Insurance  Under  the  Compensation  Act 
The  natural  result  of  compensation  legislation  was  a  increased 

Demand  for 

very   greatly   increased  demand   for  liability   insurance.  Liability 

Insurance 

The  law  did  not  require  it,  but  the  promptings  of  self-  ^^'Jf^^^'^j^^®"^" 
interest,  especially  in  view  of  the  many  alarming  opinions  legislation 
which  were  entertained  as  to  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 
new  liability,   led  the  employer  to   seek   its  protection. 
The  complete  absence  of  statistical  data  prevents  us  from 
ascertaining  either  the  amount  of  compensation  paid  or 
the  proportion  of  insurance  carried  thereto  during  any 
or  all  of  the  years  since  1897.     The  returns  required  by 
the  Board  of  Trade  during  the  past  two  years  inform 
us  as  to  the  amount  of  employers'   liability   insurance 
business  which  is  being  done  by  English  companies,  but 
it  does  not  enlighten  us  as  to  the  amount  of  compensation 
paid.     The   Home  Office  reports,   to  which  we  have  re- 
ferred at  length  in  a  preceding  chapter,  estimated  that  at 
least  £3,000,000   (|15,000,000)   was  paid  in  compensation 
during  the  year  1909.  ^^^     Many  insurance  officials  insist 
that  the  true  amount  is  from  one-third  to  one-half  greater 
than  this. 


(a)    Statistics  Compensation  during  1909,  p.  3. 

227 


228 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Incompleteness 
of  Official 
Records 
Compels  Resort 
to  Insurance 
Companies 


But  even  if  the  amount  paid  for  new  or  continuing 
claims  had  been  ascertained  they  would  not  suffice  to 
show  the  pecuniary  burden  of  the  Act.  They  would 
cover  the  claims  paid,  but  would  leave  us  still  ignorant 
of  the  cost  incident  to  their  payment.  A  variety  of 
charges  attach  to  the  adjustment  of  claims  by  the  indi- 
vidual employer  who  carries  his  own  risk,  and  if  he  in- 
sures it  the  cost  of  compensation  legislation  to  him  is 
expressed  by  his  premium  rate  and  not  by  the  lesser  or 
greater  sums  which  his  underwriter  may  pay  in  settle- 
ment of  claims  against  him. 

The  incompleteness  of  official  data  forces  us  back 
upon  the  insurance  companies  if  we  are  to  form  any 
satisfactory  estimate  of  the  pecuniary  burden  of  the 
British  legislation.  If  public  records  will  not  tell  us  its 
cost  to  the  British  employer,  the  insurance  companies 
will  at  least  inform  us  what  it  will  charge  to  assume  the 
liability  of  the  employer.  We  thus  obtain  a  knowledge 
of  rates,  if  not  of  cost,  and  the  expression  of  an  expert 
judgment  as  to  the  character  and  extent  of  the  employers' 
legal  risk. 

The  experience  of  those  who  undertake,  as  a  part  of 
their  business,  to  underwrite  the  legal  burden  of  the  Brit- 
ish employer,  is  perhaps  the  most  conclusive  evidence  of 
the  high  and  uncertain  liabilities  which  Parliament  has 
created.  Facing  the  task  of  estimating  the  pecuniary 
obligations  created  by  the  Act  of  1897,  the  English  acci- 
dent companies  undertook  to  formulate  rates  upon  their 
personal  experience  with  the  common  laAV  and  the  Em- 
ployers' Liability  Act  of  1880,  modified  by  a  study  of 
German  and  Austrian  statistics  and  the  information  sup- 


INSURANCE    UNDER   COMPENSATION   ACTS  229 

plied  by  the  relief  associations  of  the  great  Friendly 
Societies.  A  tariff  was  accordingly  drawn  and  agreed 
upon  by  a  large  number  of  insurance  organizations,  but 
within  a  year  many  of  the  important  parties  to  the  agree- 
ment withdrew,  in  the  face  of  the  exceedingly  sharp  com- 
petition which  broke  out  as  many  new  companies  entered 
the  field  attracted  by  the  apparently  vast  opportunity  for 
business. 

Prior  to  1909  insurance  companies  were  not  required  First  stages 

-of  Liability 

to  make  any  pecuniary  guarantee  of  solvency.     Under  insurance 

under 

the  statute  passed  in  that  year  each  company  was  re-  compensation 

Act 

quired  to  deposit  £20,000  (|100,000)  with  the  Pay- 
master-General as  a  condition  of  engaging  in  busi- 
ness, (a)  Cash  assets  were  not  a  prerequisite  in  1897  and 
a  variety  of  new  companies  came  into  being  eager  to  ac- 
cept liabilities  under  the  Compensation  Act,  many  pos- 
sessing insufficient  experience.  The  result  was  a  condi- 
tion of  bitter  competition.  Kates  were  slashed  during 
the  first  year  and  subject  to  individual  variations  in 
accordance  with  the  speculative  boldness  of  particular 
companies.  Within  a  year  rates  rapidly  advanced,  but 
the  sharp  conflict  resulted  in  a  number  of  business  fatal- 
ities. The  larger  companies,  however,  appeared  to  have 
acted  throughout  this  period  with  general  conservatism 
and  a  great  number  soon  reached  an  understanding  on 
rates,  many  of  the  larger  organizations  being  represented 
in  a  standing  Rate  Committee.  Indeed,  English  insur- 
ance companies  are  popularly  known  as  either  tariff  or 
non-tariff  companies,  the  former  including  most  of  the 


(a)   9  Edw.  7  chap.  49  Sec.  2. 


230  ACCIDENT    PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

greater  organizations  conforming  to  a  minimum  tariff 
which  can  be  lowered  in  individual  instances  only  with 
the  approval  of  a  standing  representative  Rate  Com- 
mittee. The  non-tariff  companies  include  all  those  organ- 
izations bound  by  no  restrictions  in  the  making  of  rates, 
but  generally  accepting  as  a  guiding  standard  the  tables 
of  the  tariff  companies.  It  is  frequently  stated  in 
England  by  the  representatives  of  the  smaller  non-tariff 
organizations  that  the  large  companies,  with  their 
greater  capital  and  experience,  have  enjoyed  the  advan- 
tage of  the  more  select  risks  and  act  with  much  caution 
in  accepting  dubious  ones,  while  the  smaller  and  newer 
companies  are  compelled  by  business  considerations  to 
take  the  less  desirable  risks,  ofttimes  with  serious  con- 
sequences to  themselves.  This  condition,  it  is  said,  will 
ultimate  in  the  retirement  of  many  of  the  smaller  compan- 
ies, leaving  the  field  largely  to  their  stronger  rivals,  who 
will  either  reject  a  great  number  of  risks  now  being  under- 
written at  speculative  rates,  or  greatly  advance  the 
charges. 
Effect  of  As  the  legislation  of  1897  was  subject  to  judicial  in- 

DecSons  terprctatiou,  the  decisions  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  and 

on  Rates  ^j^^  House  of  Lords  brought  home  a  very  keen  realiza- 

tion of  the  responsibilities  created  by  the  Act,  and  rates 
have  been  continually  advanced  in  accordance  with  the 
increase  of  actual  and  potential  liabilities.  The  Act  of 
1906  vastly  widened  the  area  for  insurance  activity.  A 
variety  of  new  employments  were  brought  within  its 
terms.  The  waiting  period,  during  which  no  compensa- 
tion was  paid,  was  reduced  from  two  weeks  to  one,  and 
this,  alone,  wa«  estimated  to  increase  the  cost  of  insur- 


INSURANCE    UNDER   COMPENSATION   ACTS  231 

ance  from  30  to  50  per  cent,  whilst  a  broad  margin  was 
required  in  new  rates  to  cover  the  variety  of  contingent 
liabilities  over  and  above  all  the  increased  obligations 
evident  upon  the  face  of  the  measure.    Table  3  (page  232) . 

A  careful  examination  of  the  rate  books  of  the  tariff  insurance 

Rates  under 

companies  show  their  premium  charge  under  the  Compen-  compensation 

Act 

sation  Act  to  run  from  two-tentjis  of  one  per  cent  to  10 
per  cent  of  the  wage  roll.  There  are  also  a  number  of 
employments  specified  as  "reserve  risks/'  and  either  taken 
at  special  rates  in  accordance  with  the  individual  cir- 
cumstances of  the  employment,  or  for  which  insurance 
is  refused. 

These  contracts  of  insurance  sometimes  exclude  classes  Municipal 

Insurance 

of  employes  and  sometimes  individual  workmen.     Strong  Against 

/.     ,  .  .  ,    ,      «  -r^  Liability 

evidence  of  this  practice  was  presented  before  the  Depart-  to  Public 
mental  Committee  in  1904.(3^)  The  practice  was  then  ex- 
plained by  the  greater  risk  of  injury  to  which  elderly  or 
defective  men  are  subject,  which  rapidly  increases  with 
age.  This  condition  has  been  aggravated  by  the  increased 
liabilities  of  the  Act  of  1906.  Under  decision  of  the 
House  of  Lords  the  employer  has  been  held,  in  recent 
years,  to  be  liable  for  injuries  which  are  the  natural 
consequences  of  disease  rather  than  accident.  Evidence 
accumulates  constantly  and  everywhere  that  this  has 
brought  about  the  enforcement  of  stringent  regulations 
in  many  industries  respecting  the  employment  of  the  old 
and  maimed.  Some  large  employers  are  requiring  physi- 
cal examinations  of  applicants  for  employment.  Nor  is 
this  confined  to  private  service.  It  is  remarkable,  but 
true,  that  large  public  bodies,  such  as  the  London  County 
Council  and  tlie  Metropolitan  Water  Board,  who  insure 

(a)    Report  Departmental  Committee   (1904),  Vol.  I,  pp.  39-40. 


Servants 


232  ACCIDENT  PREVENTION  AND  RELIEF 


TABLE  3 

INSURANCE   RATES   UNDER   WORKMEN'S    COMPENSATION   ACT 

1897  AND  1906 
The  amounts  expressed  in  shillings  are  the  rat^  per  £100. 

1897  1906 

Aerated  Water  Manufacturers   7/6  20/- 

Bakers     5/-  4/-  to  20/- 

Blacksmiths    7/6  30/- 

Boat  Builders  12/6  15/-  to  40/- 

Boot  and  Shoe  Manufacturers 4/-  4/- 

Bookbinders  4/-  6/6 

Brickmakers    7/6  10/-  to  40/- 

Bottlers    7/6  10/-  to  20/- 

Brewers    7/6  20/-  to  25/- 

r  5/- 

Builders    <^     7/6  15/-  to  40/- 

(   10/-  to  20/- 

Chemical  Workers 10/-  25/- 

Cloth  Mills 4/6  5/- 

Confectioners    5/-  4/-  to  20/- 

Coal   Merchants    5/-  to  15/-  20/-  to  30/- 

Coopers   12/6  10/-  to  40/- 

Engineers   10/-  to  30/-  10/-  to  20/- 

Farmers    6/-  8/-  to  20/- 

Glass  and  Bottle  Manufacturers 5/-  10/-  to  15/- 

Iron  Founders    5/-  to  10/-  12/-  to  50/- 

Joiners    5/-  to  10/-  15/- 

Laundries  10/-  6/-  to  12/6 


INSURANCE    UNDER   COMPENSATION   ACTS  233 


TABLE  3  (Continued) 

1897  1906 

Machinists    7/6  12/-  to  40/- 

Metal  Goods  Manufacturers  (light)   5/-  6/-  to     7/6 

Paint    Manufacturers    7/6  15/- 

Paper  Mills  12/-  15/- 

Plasterers   7/-  10/-  to  20/- 

Plumbers    5/-  12/6  to  50/- 

Potteries   5/-  -5/6  to  50/- 

Printers    4/-  6/6 

Quarries     201/-  25/-  to  60/- 

Saw  Mills  20/-  25/-  to  40/- 

Shipbuilders    25/-  25/-  to  80/- 

Ship  Repairers  30/-  to  80/- 

Soap  Manufacturers  4/-  15/- 

Stevedores  Special  80/-  to  120/ 

Stone   Masons    7/6  15/- 

Tanners    4/-  10/- 

Tile  Makers    7/6  12/6 

Tin  Plate  Works 7/6  15/-  to  20/- 

Tobacco  Manufacturers  4/-  7/6 

Weavers    3/-  5/-  to     7/6 

Wire  Drawers  7/6  25/- 

Warehousemen    2/-  6/-  to  20/- 

Window  Cleaners    3/6  60/- 

These  rates  are  necessarily  approximate;  while  obtained  from  the 
most  reliable  sources  and  in  the  majority  of  cases  are  minimum  rates, 
they  are  subject  to  change. 


Instability 
of  Rates 


234  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

themselves   against   their   risk   under   the   Compensation 
Act,    present    the    somewhat    surprising    spectacle    of    a 
municipality  taking  the  utmost  precaution  to  protect  it- 
self against  an  extreme  liability  imposed  by  the  state. 
Continuing  ^^'  Collic,  the  Houic  Officc  medical  referee,  generally 

recognized  as  a  high  authority  on  medico-legal  aspects  of 
the  Compensation  Act,  stated  in  his  address  before  the 
International  Conference  on  Social  Insurance,  at  The 
Hague,  in  September,  1910,  (a)  that  he  had  examined, 
on  behalf  of  London  public  bodies,  7,000  candidates  for 
employment  in  the  public  service  of  which  he  had  re- 
jected over  700,  or  10  per  cent.  He  urged,  from  this 
experience  of  the  largest  municipality  in  the  world, 
that  "it  would  appear  that  from  the  employer's  point  of 
view,  a  preliminary  examination  of  employes  is  a  good 
commercial  investment.''  This  is  not  a  pleasant  sugges- 
tion, but  if  city  governments  establish  the  practice  of  re- 
quiring physical  examination  of  applicants  for  the  public 
service  as  a  means  of  protecting  the  municipality  against 
legal  liability,  private  employers  and  insurance  companies 
are  likely  to  be  greatly  influenced  by  the  public  example. 
But  to  return  from  conditions  affecting  rates  to  the 
rates  themselves.  It  is  desirable  to  ascertain  whether  or 
not  the  rates,  however  high  they  may  seem,  have  reached 
the  stationary  point  expressing  a  permanent,  fixed  charge. 
To  this  there  can  be  but  one  answer.  Rates  must  con- 
tinue to  advance,  not  only  in  accordance  with  the  ever- 
increasing  number  of  permanent  disabilities,  but  to 
cover  the  contingent  liabilities  that  are  generally  admit- 

(a)    Bulletin  des  Assurances  Sociales    Rapports    Preliminaires,   p.    153. 


INSURANCE    UNDER   COMPENSATION   ACTS  235 

ted  to  remain  in  no  inconsiderable  numbers  in  the  terms 
of  tlie  Act,  and  which  in  the  course  of  its  interpretation 
must  from  time  to  time  extend  its  legal  obligations.  But 
even  if  the  divers  liabilities  and  dormant  burdens  of  the 
legislation  had  been  capable  of  definite  calculation  and 
included  in  the  present  rates,  they  must  still  advance,  for 
the  public  returns  of  the  insurance  companies,  the 
opinions  of  their  officers  and  the  experience  of  the  past 
few  years  demonstrate  that  the  rates  now  in  force  do  not 
express  the  pecuniary  liabilities  of  the  Act  in  terms  of 
insurance  profit.  The  greater  part  of  the  risks  taken  un- 
der the  Compensation  Act  are  being  underwritten  at  a 
loss.  Insurance  companies  are  business  enterprises,  not 
philanthropic  institutions,  and  rates  will  undoubtedly  ad- 
vance to  a  point  where  they  become  profitable  to  private 
enterprises,  unless  the  state,  in  the  meantime,  should 
substitute  public  insurance. 

Mr.  Stanley  Brown,  manager  of  the  Employers'  Lia-  ^^^^mT  °^ 
bility  Insurance  Company,  and  Chairman  of  the  Accident  ^^*  °^  \^^^ 
Officers'  Association,  states  that  in  his  opinion  and  the  ^^^^  ^""^  ^^^^ 
general  opinion  of  the  Association,  the  Act  of  1906  ^^goes 
beyond  the  price  of  our  former  Compensation  Act  in  a 
proportion  from  150  per  cent  to  200  per  cent."^^)     Table  4 
( page  236 )  shows  14  changes  of  minimum  rates  in  as  many 
employments  between  March  and  October  of  1910,  carrying 
increases  of  from  25  per  cent  to  150  per  cent  over  the 
previous  charge,  and  still  the  managers  of  many  of  the 
great   insurance    corporations    express   the   opinion   that 
rates  are,  generally   speaking,   from   50   per  cent  to  75 
per  cent  below  the  amount  which,  in  the  present  state 
of  the  law,  expresses  its  risk. 

(a)   Evidence  Stanley  Brown,  Quebec  Accidents  Commission,  p.  8. 


236  ACCIDENT  PREVENTION  AND  RELIEF 


TABLE  4 

t 

INCREASES    IN    WORKMEN'S    COMPENSATION    TARIFF    RATES 
FROM  MARCH  TO  OCTOBER,  1910. 

Trade  Old  Rate  New  Rate 

Carriers    20/- 32/6 

Furniture    Dealers    (delivery)     20/- 32/6 

Furniture  Depository  20/- 32/6 

Bacon  Curers  (Slaughter  houses) 20/- 50/- 

Builders  Class  A  15/- 20/- 

Builders  Class  B  20/- 30/- 

Builders  Class  C 30/- 50/- 

Woodworking  Machinists  40/- 90/- 

Joiners        (non-woodworking        ma- 
chinists)     15/- 30/- 

Ironmongers   (Mechanics)    15/- 20/- 

Plumbers    (Mechanics) 15/- 20/- 

Painters  and  Decorators  (excluding 

roofs  over  30  ft.  high)    30/- 40/- 

Painters  and  Decorators  (excluding  all 

roofs)    20/- 30/- 

Plasterers    15/- 20/- 

Slaters    35/- 50/- 

Tin  Plate  Workers  15/- 25/- 


INSURANCE    UNDER   COMPENSATION   ACTS  237 

But  it  may  be  said  this  demonstrates  the  instability  Bulk  of  British 

Compensation 

of  existing  rates,  not  the  fact  that  they  are  carried  at  a  loss  insurance 

Carried  at 

and  must  be  advanced  for  that  reason.  Table  5  (page  238)  loss 
displays  the  total  employers'  liability  business  done  in 
Great  Britain  in  the  year  1908  by  34  tarifP  and  21 
non-tariff  companies,  carrying  the  bulk  of  the  nation's 
risks.  It  discloses  that  the  largest  companies,  individ- 
ually, are  operating  at  a  loss,  or  produce  an  exceedingly 
narrow  margin  of  profit.  The  total  revenue  of  the  tariff 
companies  shows  a  net  profit  of  but  2  per  cent,  that  of 
the  non-tariff  companies  a  net  loss  of  9.73  per  cent.  The 
total  operations  of  the  55  companies  included  in  the  re- 
turns manifest  a  loss  of  .41  per  cent. 

This  evidence  of  the  insurance  situation  in  1908  is 
confirmed  and  made  much  clearer  by  the  returns  for 
1909.  The  matter  is  simplified  by  taking  the  statements 
of  the  four  largest  and  most  widely  known  of  all  British 
companies,  organizations  which  also  do  business  in  the 
United  States.    Table  6  (page  240)  shows: 

1.  The  total  business  of  these  companies  in  the  year 
1909. 

2.  Their  American  business  during  that  year. 

3.  Their  British  business  exclusively. 

By  accepting  five  dollars  to  the  pound,  we  sub- 
stantially translate  the  English  money  into  American 
dollars  and  discover  a  total  profit  for  the  four  companies 
for  1909  for  all  employers'  liability  business  to  be  |1,049,- 
890.  The  American  business  netted  a  total  of  |1,860,465, 
whilst  the  British  business,  represented  almost  entirely 
by  risks  under  the  Compensation  Act,  displayed  a  net 
loss   of   1807,575.     Each   company   was   conducted   with 


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240 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


TABLE  6 

TOTAL  BUSINESS  AND  RESULTS,  FOUR  LARGEST  BRITISH 

EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY  COMPANIES,   1909. 


Company 

Premiums 

Losses 
Incurred 

Expenses 

Surplus 

Employers' Liability  ... 

General  Accident 

London  Guarantee  and 
Accident 

£ 
1,046,151 
1,168,303 

558,343 
1,477,805 

£ 
587,073 
621,282 

278,230 
792,871 

£ 
388,500 
519,148 

247,966 
605,554 

£ 
70,578 
27,873 

32,147 
79,380 

$352,890 
139,365 

160,735 
396,900 

Ocean 

4,250,602 
*$21,253,010 

2,279,456 
$11,397,280 

1,761,168 
$8,805,840 

209,978 

$1,049,890 

UNITED  STATES  BUSINESS,  1909. 


Company 

Premiums 

Losses 
Incurred 

Expenses 

Surplus 

Employers'  Liability 

General  Accident 

London  Guarantee  and 

Accident 

Ocean 

£ 
697,906 
615,172 

438,190 
595,612 

£ 
326,702 
205,586 

221,247 
318,845 

£ 
252,986 
266,289 

173,147 
210,585 

£ 
118,218 
143,297 

43,796 
66,182 

371,493 

$591,090 
716,485 

218,980 
330,910 

2,346,880 
$11,734,400 

1,072,380 
$5,361,900 

903,007 
$4,515,035 

$1,857,465 

BRITISH  AND  OTHER  SECTIONS.  1909. 


Company 

Premiums 

Losses 

Expenses 

Surplus  or  Deficiency 

Employers'  Liability... 

General  Accident 

London  Guarantee  and 
Accident 

£ 
348,245 
553,131 

120,153 
882,193 

£ 
260,371 
415,696 

56,983 
474,026 

£ 
135,514 
252,859 

74,819 
394,969 

£ 

-47,640 

-115,424 

-11,649 
+  13,198 

-$238,200 
-577,120 

—58,245 

Ocean 

+65,990 

1,903,722 
$9,518,610 

1,207,076 
$6,035,380 

858,161 
$4,290,805 

-161,515 

—$807,575 

*  Calculated  basis  $5.00  to  £1  (1  pound) 


INSURANCE    UNDER   COMPENSATION   ACTS  241 

profit  in  the  United  States  and  each  company  operated 
at  a  significant  loss  in  Great  Britain. 

These  conclusions  are  only  strengthened  by  a  detailed  Explanations 
examination  of  the  reports  of  77  companies  engaged  in  for  insurance 

Losses 

the  employers'  liability  business,  and  made  to  the  Board 
of  Trade  of  England  for  the  year  1909.  (a)  But  it  may  be 
asked,  Why  should  business  be  undertaken  at  a  loss?  Why 
are  not  rates  immediately  raised  if  loss  is  being  steadily 
sustained?  We  have  seen  that  rates  are  being  advanced 
and  in  view  of  the  condition  which  evidence  discloses  it 
must  be  assumed  that  they  are  moving  upwards  as  rapidly 
as  circumstances  permit.  A  fact  and  its  explanation  are, 
however,  quite  different  things.  The  British  insurance 
situation  presents  an  interplay  of  many  forces.  One  can 
quite  readily  see  the  plain  outlines  of  the  condition  without 
perceiving  all  the  factors  which  contribute  to  its  main- 
tenance. 

It  is  frankly  stated  in  insurance  circles  that  there  is 
not  sufficient  data  available  nor  has  sufficient  time 
elapsed  to  permit  the  formation  of  an  accurate  actuarial 
judgment  of  the  liabilities  created  by  the  Act  of  1906. 
This  primary  difficulty  is  augmented  by  the  complexity 
of  the  measure  and  the  variety  of  contingent  liabilities 
surrounding  its  future.  It  is  further  said  that  many  fire 
insurance  companies  have  gone  into  the  liability  field  to 
protect  household  insurance,  the  peaceful  possession  of 
which  is  threatened  by  the  entree  to  the  householder 
which  new  liability  companies  likewise  taking  fire  risks 
have  secured  since  the  inclusion  of  domestic  service  in 


(a)   Statements    Employers*    Liability    Insurance    Co.,    year    ending 
Dec.  31,  1909. 


242  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

the  Act.  It  is  further  explained  that  fire  underwriters  are 
willing,  although  undoubtedly  not  anxious,  to  incur  loss, 
while  the  taking  of  a  limited  amount  of  losing  employers' 
liability  insurance  is  to  be  regarded  as  an  incident  in 
the  protection  of  their  standard  business.  But,  however 
dissatisfied  we  may  be  with  any  or  all  of  tiie  explanations 
offered  for  the  present  English  insurance  situation,  the 
fact  which  cannot  be  gainsaid  is  that  the  pecuniary 
burden  of  the  Act  neither  has  been  ascertained  nor  is  yet 
capable  of  ascertainment.  If  the  pecuniary  cost  of  this 
legislation  defies  the  experience  and  judgment  of  those 
whose  business  success  depends  upon  the  successful  cal- 
culation of  risk,  who  shall  endeavor  to  express  its  terms? 
Cost  cf  A  fixed  element  in  the  cost  of  all  private  insurance  is 

Insurance 

Administration  the  cxpcuse  of  administration.  Statistics  in  England, 
like  our  own,  indicate  that  for  every  |1,000  paid  by  an 
employer,  some  |400  is  lost  on  its  way  to  the  injured 
man.  We  might  assume  from  these  circumstances  and 
the  natural  temptation  to  lessen  the  charges  for  adequate 
protection,  that  mutual  insurance  would  find  a  large 
field  of  service  in  England.  But  in  spite  of  the  opinion 
expressed  by  the  Departmental  Committee  in  1904  as  to 
the  important  and  essential  function  which  mutual  in- 
surance could  perform  in  the  administration  of  the  Com- 
pensation Act,  Parliament  has  not  seen  fit  to  encourage 
any  form  of  it  under  the  Act  which  employer  and  em- 
ploye would  support  by  joint  action. 

There  seems  to  be  a  general  impression  that  the  Act 
somehow  aids  the  British  employer  to  enter  into  some 
mutual  scheme  which  will  bring  himself  and  his  work- 
men together  upon  some  equitable  basis.     The  Act,  how- 


INSURANCE    UNDER   COMPENSATION   ACTS  243 

ever,  expressly  discourages  contracts  outside  of  its  terms 
and  permits  them  only  under  conditions  that  do  not  en- 
courage the  growth  of  substitutes. 

Needless  to  say,  no  employer  would  undertake  to  main-  contracting 

Out  Schemes 

tain  a  plan  of  relief  as  well  as  meet  the  liabilities  of 
the  Act.  He  can,  however,  provide  a  substitute  for  these 
liabilities  in  only  one  way.  He  may  present  to  the 
Registrar  of  Friendly  Societies  a  scheme  conferring  upon 
his  employes  equal  or  greater  benefits  than  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Act.  In  that  event  the  Registrar  must 
certify,  not  only  that  this  is  the  effect  of  the  scheme,  but 
that  a  majority  of  the  employes  to  whom  the  scheme  is 
applicable  favor  it,  and  their  opinion  is  to  be  ascertained 
by  ballot.  The  plan  must  not  require  its  acceptance  as  a 
condition  of  employ  ment,  and  the  worker  agreeing  to  it 
must  be  permitted  to  withdraw  at  will.  When  all  of 
these  conditions  exist,  the  certificate  of  the  Registrar 
permits  such  a  plan  to  remain  in  force  for  not  more 
than  five  years.  If  not  fairly  administered,  the  scheme 
may  be  revoked  at  any  time.  A  plan  thus  approved  is  a 
permissible  substitute  for  the  benefits  of  the  Act;  it  has 
not,  however,  any  binding  force.  Its  acceptance  is  not 
obligatory  either  upon  the  workmen  who  voted  for  it  or 
the  minority  who  may  have  been  opposed  to  it.  The 
approval  of  the  Registrar  does  not  in  any  way  apply  it 
to  the  employment  for  which  it  is  approved.  It  merely 
permits  the  employer,  after  these  various  conditions  have 
been  complied  with,  to  contract  with  each  workman  indi- 
vidually in  accordance  with  these  terms,  and  each  indi- 
vidual may  accept  it  or  reject  it.  The  difficulties  of  organ- 
izing systems  of  this  character  are  indicated  by  the  decreas- 


244  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   BELIEF 

ing  number  of  workmen  to  whom  they  apply.  The  number 
of  workmen  to  whom  the  Act  of  1897  applied  was  much 
less  than  was  covered  by  the  Act  of  1906,  but  in  1904 
129,335  employes  were  covered  by  contracting  out  schemes ; 
in  1909  there  were  but  66,952  in  like  condition. 
The  Great  Prior  to  1897  all  the  large  English  railroad  systems 

Eastern  ,  .        ,  it  .         . 

Railroad  Plan  maintained  mutual  relief  organizations  some  of  which 
possessed  a  high  reputation  for  efficiency  and  were  quite 
satisfactory  to  their  members,  but  since  the  passage  of 
the  Compensation  Acts,  practically  all  have  been  aban- 
doned except  one  in  force  on  the  Great  Eastern  Kailroad. 
That  company  is  now  the  largest  employer,  and  indeed 
the  only  very  large  employer  contracting  out  of  the  Act. 
Nearly  30,000  workmen  are  covered  by  its  plan,  the 
particulars  of  which  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix, 
page  353. 

The  Iron  Trade         Mutual  iusurauce  of  employers  engaged  in  the  same 

Employers'  it     i      .     t       ,     . 

Insurance  or    allied    industrics,    finds    its    best    expression    among 

mine  owners  and  in  the  unusually  excellent  organization 
existing  in  the  iron  trades.  The  Iron  Trades  Employers' 
Insurance  Association,  Ltd.,  is  a  mutual  organization  of 
engineers  and  shipbuilders,  who  are  members  of  the  En- 
gineering and  Shipbuilding  Employers'  Federation.  The 
Association  is  not  allowed  to  take  as  members  any  firm 
.  not  a  member  of  such  Federation.  A  most  interesting 
'  memorandum  describing  the  orgpnization  and  methods  of 
this  Association  is  included  in  the  Appendix  on  page  373, 
and  is  presented  through  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  S.  R.  Glad- 
well,  secretary  of  the  Association  by  whom  it  was  espe- 
cially prepared  for  publication.  The  Association  insures 
the  liability  risks  of  its  members,  who  employ  altogether 


INSURANCE    UNDER   COMPENSATION   ACTS  245 

upwards  of  250,000  workmen.  It  is  managed  by  a  board 
of  directors  composed  of  large  employers  of  exceptional 
ability  and  experience,  and  numbers  on  its  staff  super- 
vising experts  with  exceptional  insurance  training.  The 
Association,  by  it  nature,  avoids  elements  of  expense 
essential  to  private  insurance,  having  no  commissions  and 
no  dividends  to  pay,  the  services  of  its  directors  being 
likewise  without  charge.  Under  these  circumstances  the 
experience  of  the  Association  presents  further  striking 
evidence  of  the  native  difficulties  which  underlie  any 
effort  to  successfully  estimate  the  pecuniary  liabilities  of 
the  Compensation  Act. 

The  operation  of  the  Association  from  1903  to  1909  is  operation  of 

the  Association 

expressed  in  the  following  financial  statement.     During  from  1903 

to  1909 

seven  years  of  operation  satisfactory  to  its  members,  it 
has  succeeded  in  underwriting  their  total  liability  with  a 
premium  income  of  £866,680  (|4,333,400)  at  a  total  net 
profit  of  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent. 

Premiums  Losses  Expenses  Percentage  of 

Received  Profit  or  Loss 

£  £       £ 

1903  72,834  62,856  9,580  +  0.6 

1904  77,382  73,183  9,955  —  7.3 

1905 89,574  83,003  11,176  —  5.0 

1906  116,376   121,422   11,079   —13.8 

1907  121,544   111,607   11,576   —  1.3 

1908  (18  mos.)  244,925   210,996   20,107   -f  5.6 

1909  144,045   115,439   13,842   +10.1 


Totals  £866,680  £778,506  £87,315   +  0.1 


Total  losses  and  expenses . .  £865,821 


246 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Summary 

Respecting- 

British 

Compensation 

Insurance 


For  13  years  the  great  insurance  organizations  of 
Great  Britain  have  wrestled  with  the  actuarial  prob- 
lems within  the  Compensation  Acts.  Exceptional  tech- 
nical skill,  experience  and  ability  have  directed  their  ef- 
fort. Every  business  incentive  has  spurred  them  to  the 
conquest.  But  the  remarkable  success  Vhich  has  at- 
tached to  every  other  department  of  the  British  under- 
writer's vast  activities  is  strangely  absent  from  his 
endeavor  to  gauge  the  employer's  risks  under  these 
measures.  Kates  rose  and  fell  under  the  influence  of  the 
sharp  early  competition.  Their  upward  trend  is  now 
long  sustained.  But  13  years  has  brought  no  stability. 
The  outlines  of  liability  are  still  vague  and  indefinite. 
The  fault  is  not  in  the  actuary,  it  is  in  the  Act.  He  can- 
not give  shape  to  that  which  is  formless  and  void  and 
state  in  fixed  terms  that  which  is  by  nature  vague  and 
uncertain. 


CHAPTER   THIRTEEN 

Primal  Defects  of  tke  Britisk  Legislation 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Primal  Defects  of  the  British  Legislation 

British    compensation    legislation    sprang   into    being  circumstances 
at  a  time  when  the  public  attention  was  being:  called  to  5^"^®^ 

■^  ^  Compensation 

the  legal  and  economic  hardships  of  the  British  workman.  ^^^^^^^^^^^ 
The  rise  of  the  Labor  Party  gave  strength  to  a  protest  and 
a  demand,  the  one  complaining  of  the  legislation  of  the 
past,  the  other  proposing  measures  for  the  future.  The 
trade  unions  had  fought  their  way  through  a  variety  of 
legal  disabilities  not  merely  to  toleration,  but  to  excep- 
tional legal  privileges  for  their  members.  As  the  Labor 
Party  grew  in  power  and  Parliamentary  representation  it 
became  a  considerable  factor  in  British  politics.  Its  in- 
fluence was  seen  in  the  Act  of  1897  and  in  the  extension 
of  the  terms  of  that  measure  to  all  forms  of  employment. 
Many  details  of  amendment  express  its  reiterated  de- 
mands. Indeed,  political  pressure  is  historically  a  much 
more  reasonable  explanation  for  many  phases  of  existing 
legislation  than  the  patent  fact  of  investigation  disre- 
garded and  experience  unrecorded. 

The  doctrine  "of  personal  liability  for  injuries  received 
in  the  course  of  employment"  was  said  to  have  been  "im- 
ported into  England  from  Germany  in  an  unmanufactured 

249 


250  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

The  Spirit  state  and  made  up,  perhaps  not  very  artistically,  into  the 

Workmen's  Compensation  Act  of  1897.'^  (a)  We  have,  in 
preceding  pages,  enunciated  its  principles  and  policy  in 
the  language  of  those  who  gave  it  being  and  under  whose 
leadership  it  assumed  its  final  shape.  Whether  due  to  the 
difference  of  viewpoint  or  condition,  they  seem  to  ap- 
proach the  problem  full  of  the  spirit  of  the  Poor  Laws. 
It  clings  to  their  thought  like  burrs  to  a  beggar's  rags. 
Their  vision  is  fixed  upon  the  "dependency"  that  may  fol- 
low injury.  The  employer  becomes  an  instrumentality  to 
relieve  indigence.  The  debates  in  Parliament,  the  speeches 
from  the  stump  which  preceded  the  Act  of  1897,  and  fol- 
lowed its  adoption,  dwelt  continuously  upon  the  "depend- 
ence" created  by  serious  disability.  "Relief  for  distress'^ 
is  the  term  which  runs  through  ensuing  reference  to  com- 
pensation legislation  in  the  reports  of  the  Departmental 
Committee  of  1904  and  the  wider  public  discussion  ante- 
cedent to  the  broader  law  of  1906.  The  whole  literature 
expounding  the  virtues  and  vindicating  the  liabilities 
created  by  Parliament  presents  the  Compensation  Act  in 
the  guise  of  a  gigantic  scheme  of  poor  relief.  This  is  borne 
out  no  less  by  the  extrinsic  evidence  of  public  statements 
than  by  the  intrinsic  characteristics  of  the  statute.  It 
gives  no  consideration  to  the  workman's  injury;  it  salves 
it  only  with  limited  pecuniary  recompense.  It  neither 
requires  nor  encourages,  as  does  the  German  law^,  medical 
attention.  It  bears  no  relation  to  the  prevention  of  in- 
jury; it  does  not  investigate  its  causes,  and,  knowing  that 
ignorance  and  neglect  may  permit  trivial  injuries  to  de- 

(a)   Law  of   Employer  and   Workman   in   England,    Ruegg,    Chap.   V, 
p.  146. 


PRIMAL  DEFECTS  OF  BRITISH  LEGISLATION  251 

velop  into  serious  disabilities,  and  that  sound  healing  de- 
pends upon  first  aid,  takes  no  step  to  contribute  to  recov- 
ery. It  seems  to  consider  the  individual's  wants  but  not 
his  needs.  It  regards  the  workman  as  one  who  must  not 
be  permitted  to  become  a  public  charge.  Its  thought  is 
concentrated  upon  making  some  individual  relieve  distress 
which  might  require  the  aid  of  the  state.  It  views  the 
whole  problem  in  terms  of  charitable  intervention. 

How  different  is  the  German  viewpoint.  It  thinks  in  German 
terms  of  national  policy  as  well  as  humanity.  It  studies  ^'^'^p'^'"* 
to  meet  the  causes  as  well  as  the  effects  of  work  accidents, 
and  it  regards  each  injured  workman  not  only  as  a  man 
but  as  a  national  industrial  asset,  whose  productive  power, 
when  impaired,  is  to  be  restored  as  well  as  recompensed. 
It  meets  the  claim  for  injury  with  justice,  but  having 
traced  its  origin  to  the  circumstances  of  production,  it 
makes  the  collective  agencies  answer,  and  not  the  indi- 
vidal  possessing  but  limited  control  of  its  conditions.  It 
preserves  and  strengthens  individual  self-respect  and  in- 
dependence by  making  compensation  awarded,  rest,  not 
upon  need  and  distress,  but  upon  a  sturdy  right  to  assist- 
ance derived  from  personal  contribution  given,  and  the 
state,  having  laid  upon  industry  an  obligation  to  provide 
against  accident  and  its  consequence,  leaves  the  respon- 
sible parties  to  create  the  means  of  relief  by  joint  contri- 
bution, self-administered. 

So  much  for  the  elementary  theories  and  spirit  of  the 
English  system,  and  they  are  of  no  little  consequence  to 
a  nation  like  ours  that  prides  itself  upon  the  self-reliance 
of  its  people.  It  is  one  thing  to  provide  relief  to  which 
individuals  are  justly  entitled;  it  is  quite  another  to  give 


252 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


The  I^ack  of 
Preliminary  In- 
formation and 
Recorded 
Experience 


it  under  circumstances  and  conditions  in  wliich  tlie  most 
admirable  qualities  of  individual  character  suffer  in  the 
taking. 

But  are  the  methods  which  have  accompanied  the  es- 
tablishment, operation  and  extension  of  English  compen- 
sation legislation  worthy  of  our  imitatfon?  We  face  a 
great  task.  Ought  we  not  to  go  about  it  with  that  elemen- 
tary caution  which  should  characterize  a  prudent  man  in 
an  undertaking  of  ordinary  importance?  Yet  what  judg- 
ment commends  important  action  without  knowledge. 
Every  nation  of  Continental  Europe  which  has  established, 
much  less  extended  its  system  of  compensation,  has  done 
so  only  after  elaborate  investigation  directed  and  sus- 
tained by  trained  minds.  The  German  fortified  each  step 
of  his  progress  with  the  accumulated  records  of  national 
experience.  Great  Britain  undertook  a  vast  social  experi- 
ment, the  introduction  into  an  ancient  system  of  novel 
principles  in  antagonism  with  deep-rooted  habits,  customs, 
mode  of  thought  and  traditions.  It  mixed  its  legislative 
chemicals  with  anxiety  and  curiosity,  but  set  no  watcher 
in  the  social  laboratory  to  observe  their  reaction.  Ten 
years  of  national  life  passed  under  the  continuing  influence 
of  new  obligations  affecting  the  lives  of  millions  of  sub- 
jects and  yet  the  evidence  of  their  effect  is  to  be  gathered 
by  the  curious,  only,  from  the  scattered  experience  of  in- 
dividuals or  the  fragmentary  information  of  private  con- 
cerns. A  single  committee  investigated  the  effects  of  legis- 
lative action,  complaining  as  it  probed  of  the  difficulties 
arising  from  the  absence  of  information  that  should  have 
filled  the  public  records,  but  the  complaint  passed  un- 
heeded, the  defect  remained  unremedied,  and  the  recom- 


PRIMAL  DEFECTS  OF  BRITISH  LEGISLATION  253 

mendations  of  the  only  public  body  entitled  to  speak  with 
authoritative  voice  finds  little  in  the  subsequent  legislation 
of  1906  to  suggest  its  own  labors  or  conclusions,  and  con- 
siderable evidence  that  they  were  either  disregarded  or 
made  the  subject  of  contrary  action. 

The  very  terms  defining  individual  liabilities  and  fixing 
the  financial  burden  of  industry  reinained  in  the  new  legis- 
lation onerously  indefinite,  piling  the  costs  of  hidden  con- 
tingencies upon  heavy  existing  charges.  Injustice  was 
added  to  uncertainty  by  making  that  misconduct  which 
had  been  a  bar  to  recovery  under  the  Act  of  1897  no  bar 
to  compensation  unless  recklessness  failed  to  result  in 
serious  and  permanent  disability  or  death. 

For  the  first  time  in  English  legal  history  the  bar  Recognition 

^  of  Illegitimate 

sinister  was  removed,  the  illegitimate  became  of  right  an  claimants 
equal  competitor  with  the  legitimate  child  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  parental  compensation.  No  added  right  of  action 
was  given  to  an  illegitimate  child  under  the  common  law 
or  statute.  Here  and  here  alone  a  right  was  given  which 
was  denied  under  equally  distressing  circumstances  out- 
side the  Act.  Thus  again  the  Act  speaks  in  terms  of  de- 
pendency and  poor  relief. 

Great  Britain  has  not  followed  the  logic  of  her  own 
law.  Making  each  employer  accept  the  obligations  of  a 
limited  insurer,  he  possesses  none  of  the  privileges  of  in- 
surance. He  carries  the  risk  without  knowing  the 
premium  and  is  thus  forced  to  regard  each  employe  as  a 
hazard,  a  circumstance  which  has  wrought  unspeakable 
hardship  upon  elderly  and  defective  workmen.  To  this 
unhappy  condition  public  attention  was  called  by  the  re- 
port of  the  Departmental  Committee  in  1904,  and  a  remedy 


254 


ACCIDENT  PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Effect  upon 
the  Employ- 
ment of 
Elderly  and 
Defective 
Men 


was  suggested,  but,  like  other  recommendations  of  that 
committee,  it  remained  unnoticed.  This  distressing  situa- 
tion led  Sir  Edward  Brabrook,  late  Chief  Registrar  of 
Friendly  Societies,  a  man  of  long  experience  and  high 
official  position  in  the  administration  of  the  Act  of  1897, 
to  denounce  what  he  termed  "the  horrors''  of  the  Act,  in 
the  address  which  he  delivered  to  the  International  Con- 
ference on  Social  Insurance  at  The  Hague  in  September 
1910.  Dr.  Collie,  medical  referee  of  the  English  Home 
Office,  at  the  same  time  and  place,  quoted  the  opinion  of 
the  Local  Government  Board  inspector,  "that  the  Work- 
men's Compensation  Act  has  done  more  than  anything  else 
in  recent  years  to  force  men  between  fifty  and  seventy 
years  of  age  into  the  workhouse."  (a)  The  Poor  Law  Com- 
mission confirms  this  opinion  by  a  similar  finding  in  its 
annual  report  for  1909.  (b)  Yet  these  unfortunate  conse- 
quences seem  inevitably  associated  with  raising  individual 
liability  to  an  extreme  point,  for  the  employer,  whatever 
his  sympathies,  is  forced  into  the  situation  where  he  must 
retain  the  services  of  elderly  and  defective  men  at  an  en- 
hanced premium,  or  pitilessly  supplant  them  with  younger 
men,  representing  diminished  risk  and  proportionate  re- 
duction of  overhead  expense.  English  experience  seems 
to  suggest  that  this  result  can  be  avoided  in  any  applica- 
tion of  the  compensation  principle  only  by  eliminating  per- 
sonal liability  and  substituting  for  it  contribution  to  a 
solvent  insurance  fund. 


(a)  Bulletin  des  Assurances  Sociales.    Conference  Internationale  de  La 
Haye,  p.  154. 

(b)  Report  Poor  Law  Commission  1909,  p.  220. 


PRIMAL  DEFECTS  OF  BRITISH  LEGISLATION  255 

Avowedly  intended  to  provide  compensation  for  acci-  inclusion  of 

Disease  by- 
dent,  the  Act  has  in  fact  made  the  employer  by  decision  construction 

liable  for  disease,  for  the  English  cases  make  it  apparent 

that  compensation  is  frequently  paid  for  accidents  actually 

due  not  to  work,  but  the  physical  state  of  the  workman. 

The  Act  has  thus  overshot  its  mark  and  covered  a  field 

greater  than  its  purpose. 

Can  a  measure  of  this  nature  be  a  proper  model  for 
the  imitation  of  our  states? 

We  are  dissatisfied  with  the  waste  and  bitterness  which 
follow  in  the  wake  of  litigation,  but  this  Act  neither  stems 
waste,  removes  elements  of  personal  antagonism  nor  pre- 
vents resort  to  the  courts.  We  desire  a  single  liability. 
If  we  imitated  the  terms  of  the  Act  we  should  find  our-  Features 

Unworthy  of 

selves  possessed  of  three  methods  of  legal  controversy.      imitation 

We  want  to  bring  employer  and  employe  together  in  a 
joint  effort  to  reach  the  causes  and  alleviate  the  conse- 
quences of  work  accidents,  but  this  measure  neither  pre- 
vents accidents  nor  secures  the  moral  or  pecuniary  con- 
tribution of  employer  and  workman  toward  their  relief. 

If  we  are  to  have  compensation  at  all,  we  wish  to  assure 
that  of  the  workman  of  the  small  employer  as  well  as  the 
great.  This  measure  has  never  secured  that  result.  We 
want  a  system  that  assists  in  the  restoration  of  impaired 
working  capacity  by  prompt  medical  relief,  but  this  Act 
gives  no  heed  to  the  injury  save  to  make  it  the  basis  of  a 
pension.  Common  sense  suggests  that  any  liability  created, 
however  great  or  small,  should  be  definite  and  stable,  but 
the  obligations  of  the  Act  are  fluctuating  and  uncertain 
from  its  very  nature.  W^e  must  not  create  a  condition 
adding  new  difficulties  in   securing  employment  to   the 


256  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

Effect  of  the      handicaps  of  age  and  disease.     This  Act  created  to  relieve 

Act 

unsaiutaxy  the  "dependency''  of  the  injured,  has  made  an  army  of 
dependents  among  the  maimed,  the  halt  and  the  infirm. 
Above  all,  we  cannot  afford  in  the  establishment  of  any 
system  or  the  formulation  of  any  legislation  involving  the 
compensation  principle,  to  proceed  withomt  due  investiga- 
tion, acquainting  ourselves  with  our  own  problem  before 
we  undertake  its  solution,  and  illuminating  each  step  of 
our  progress  by  the  accumulated  experience  of  our  march. 


256 


CHAPTER    FOURTEEN 

Findings  ancl  Recommenaations  or  the  Committee 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Findings  and  Recommendations  of  the  Committee 

From  the  investigations  herein  set  forth,  your  Com- 
mittee  finds: 


That  limited  compensation  for  personal  injury  received  Principles 

of  European 

in  the  course  of  employment  is  assured  in  the  chief  states  Legislation 
of  Europe  and  many  of  the  British  colonies.    Such  legis- 
lation, substantially,  predicates: 

That  accidents,  during  work,  frequently  arise  from  un- 
avoidable risks  inherent  in  the  nature  and  circumstances 
of  modern  production ;  that  the  economic  consequences  of 
such  injuries  should  be  borne  primarily  by  the  employ- 
ment in  which  they  occur  and  ultimately  by  society  in 
whose  service  they  are  incurred  and  not  entirely  by  the 
workmen  to  whom  they  occur ;  that  this  may  be  beneficially 
accomplished  by  transferring  a  limited  charge  for  assur- 
ance against  impairment  of  working  capacity  to  society^ 
as  a  cost  of  production,  thus  making  certain  the  relief 
of  the  employe  without  unduly  burdening  the  employer. 

That  the  waste,  delay  and  harmful  bitterness  engen- 
dered by  litigating  claims  for  personal  injury  in  a  legal 

259 


260 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 


system  based  upon  fault  as  the  sole  ground  of  recovery 
justify  and  require  that  the  state  in  the  public  interest 
make  other  equitable  provision  for  the  speedy  adjustment 
of  such  controversies. 

That  causes  of  injury  are  to  be  anticipated  and  averted 
no  less  than  consequences.  Therefore,  serious  misconduct 
jeopardizing  the  life  or  limb  of  others  or  self  inflicted  in- 
jury diminishes  compensation  or  denies  it. 

That  all  employments  are  included  save  in  exceptional 
instances  where  difficulties  of  application  delay  extension. 

All  European  legislation  embodying  these  ideas  in 
variously  qualified  form,  is  neither  framed  with  equal  wis- 
dom nor  administered  with  like  success.  But  the  admir- 
able enforcement  of  these  principles  in  many  states  sup- 
plies conclusive  evidence  that  rightly  applied  they  are 
socially,  economically  and  industrially  advantageous,  and 
if  adapted  to  our  form  of  government,  mode  of  thought  and 
conditions  of  labor,  would  confer  undoubted  benefit. 


II 


Accident 
Prevention 
and 
Medical  Aid 


That  the  advantages  perceived  were  secured  and  are 
maintained  only  in  accompaniment  with  a  sound,  vigorous 
and  scientific  system  of  accident  prevention,  obtaining 
public  and  private  co-operation,  with  suitable  provision  in 
all  cases  of  personal  injury  for  prompt  and  efficient  first 
aid  treatment  provided  by  the  employer,  and  of  which  the 
injured  person  may  be  required  to  avail  himself  under 
penalty  of  losing  or  diminishing  subsequent  compensation. 


RECOMMENDATIONS   FOR   ACTION   IN    UNITED   STATES    261 

in 

That  sound  compensation  laws  rest  upon  a  solid  foun-  carefui  inves- 
tigation Essen- 

dation  of  fact  obtained  through  tlie  deliberate  and  im-  tiai  to  sound 

^  Legislation 

partial  investigations  of  trained  men,  and,  in  the  opinion 
of  recognized  European  authorities,  require  for  success- 
ful administration  the  continuous-  collection  and  compila- 
tion of  statistics  relating  to  every  circumstance  of  acci- 
dents and  their  compensation,  and  the  progressive  applica- 
tion of  such  ascertained  experience. 

IV 

That  the  German  empire,  which  first  applied  the  prin-  High  vaiue  of 

German 

ciple  of  assured  compensation,  is,  among  all  the  countries  statistics  and 

Experience 

of  Europe,  the  most  practically  successful  in  its  applica- 
tion ;  that  it  alone  compiles,  possesses  and  has  continuously 
applied  the  record  of  its  experience  to  the  development  of 
a  scientific  system  of  accident  prevention  and  compensa- 
tion. That  its  accumulated  statistics  and  tested  methods 
are  of  compelling  influence  on  the  legislation  of  Europe. 
That  its  conditions  of  employment  and  ratio  of  agricul- 
tural to  industrial  workers,  its  progressive  application 
of  mechanical  forces  to  new  employments,  make  its  meth- 
ods and  information  a  profitable  study  for  ourselves.  That 
while  many  details  of  its  administration  are  neither  ap- 
plicable nor  desirable,  the  chief  principles  of  the  German 
system  of  accident  compensation  may  be  adopted  in  our 
respectivi^  states  by  voluntary  action  or  through  permissive 
legislation  and,  in  a  large  de^jree  compelled  by  statute. 


262 


ACCIDENT   PKEVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

V 


A  Solvent 

Insurance 

Fund 

Preferable 

to  Individual 

Liability 


That  assurance  against  loss  of  working  capacity  is  the 
basis  of  all  European  systems  of  compensation,  avowedly 
in  most  systems,  logically  in  all  others,  declared  in  German 
legislation,  implied  in  English  legislation.  That  each 
European  system  fails  in  the  practical  execution  of  its 
theory  in  the  proportion  that  it  rests  compensation  of 
injury  upon  personal  liability  and  not  upon  contribution 
to  a  solvent  insurance  fund  from  which  awards  are  paid. 
That  if  every  employer  becomes  a  limited  insurer  in  law, 
he  should  become  an  insurer  in  fact,  and  the  obligation  of 
contributing  to  a  compensation  fund  or  providing  an  ac- 
ceptable form  of  insurance  should  become  a  substitute  for 
personal  liability.  That  contribution  to  a  common  fund,  in 
accordance  with  the  ascertained  hazard  of  the  employment, 
assures  compensation  and  makes  it  a  definite  charge. 
That  mere  increase  of  personal  liability  with  optional 
insurance  enlarges  the  burden  of  the  great  employer,  with 
no  assurance  of  recovery  from  the  small  one.  That  the 
creation  of  a  compensation  fund  administered  by  the  con- 
tributors or  the  state,  but  preferably  the  former,  permits 
provision  for  simple,  cheap  and  rapidly  moving  machinery 
in  the  adjustment  of  claims,  eliminates  the  bitter  antagon- 
ism and  social  friction  arising  from  opposing  interest  in- 
separable from  personal  liability,  covers  hard  cases  with 
out  excessive  cost,  allows  without  undue  or  inequitable 
burden,  a  higher  rate  of  disability  and  death  benefits  and 
permits  the  calculation  of  a  fixed  annual  charge  for  legal 
risk  capable  of  decrease  by  accident  prevention. 


RECOMMENDATIONS   FOR   ACTION   IN    UNITED   STATES    263 

VI 

We  find  that  limited  compensation  through  insurance  Methods  of 

Insurance 

is  successfully  obtained:  through  the  creation  of  a  fund 
administered  by  the  state,  to  which  employer  and  employe 
contribute  and  from  which  compensation  is  paid ;  or 
through  a  fund  supervised  by  the  state  to  which  employer 
and  employe  contribute  and  in  the  administration  of  which 
they  are  represented  in  proportion  to  their  contribution; 
or  through  voluntary  mutual  associations,  either  of  em- 
ployers alone  or  of  employers  and  employes,  organized 
under  permissive  legislation;  or  in  private  insurance  as- 
sociations in  which  the  employer  may  carry  his  risk  in 
those  nations  where  compensation  is  assured  by  the  ex- 
tension of  personal  liability. 

That  the  most  efficient,  economic  and  progressive  in- 
surance system  is  one  in  which  an  intimate  relationship 
is  established  and  maintained  between  shop  management, 
insurance  management  and  the  supervision  of  accident 
prevention,  and  in  which  rates  can  and  will  most  closely 
conform  to  the  accident  record  of  the  individual  employer. 

VII 

We  believe  those  systems  most  equitable  and  expedient  contribution 
which  require  minor  contributions  from  employes.  They 
alone  provide  a  justly  proportionate  distribution  of  the 
pecuniary  burden,  assured  dual  interest  in  the  discourage- 
ment of  fraudulent  claims  and  mutual  co-operation  in  the 
practical  prevention  of  accidents,  for  which  employer  and 
employe  are  jointly  responsible.     They  provide  a  necessary 


264 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


protection  against  the  contamination  of  tliose  qualities  of 
thrift  and  self-reliance  which  have  ever  been  regarded  as 
among  the  most  valuable  assets  of  American  character. 


Creation  of  a 
Single  Liability 
Essential 


VIII  ^ 

We  find  compensatory  legislation  is  intended  to  ex- 
clude or  purposely  endeavors  to  discourage,  save  in  excep- 
tional cases,  the  use  of  pre-existing  remedies  at  law.  The 
creation  of  a  single  liability  or  a  single  obligation  to  con- 
tribute to  a  compensating  fund,  is  the  purpose  and  evident 
tendency  of  all  foreign  legislation.  A  single  liability  is 
essential  to  the  satisfactory  operation  of  the  compensatory 
principle  and  its  adoption  should  therefore  be  accompanied 
by  the  repeal,  as  far  as  possible,  of  all  other  remedies. 


Compensation 
Principle 
Should  Apply 
to  All 
Employments 


IX 

We  find  in  the  complete  statistical  record  of  the  Ger- 
man empire  covering  a  period  of  25  years  and  sustained  by 
the  less  complete  returns  of  other  European  countries  and 
the  relative  rates  of  private  insurance  therein,  that  we 
must  readjust  our  conventional  notions  of  the  compara- 
tive hazard  of  various  employments.  European  and  Ca- 
nadian (a)  official  statistics  and  the  comparative  personal 
accident  rates  of  American  i^urance  companies  all  indi- 
cate a  higli  percentage  of  ac(Ants  in  agricultural  as  well 
as  industrial  pursuits.  If,>therefore,  any  employer  is  to 
become  an  insurer  against  accident  in  employment, 
all     employers     should     bear     the     same     burden     in 

(a)   See  Appendix,  page  377. 


RECOMMENDATIONS   FOR   ACTION   IN    UNITED   STATES    265 

proportion  to  the  actual  hazard  of  their  particular  pur- 
suit. We  find  that  the  application  of  the  principle  of 
compensation  should  be  universal,  or  it  places  unequal 
and  arbitrary  burdens  upon  classes  of  employers  and  de- 
nies participation  in  the  benefits  of  its  remedial  pro- 
visons  to  vast  classes  of  employes. 

X 

We  find  that   the  amount   of  compensation   required  Limitation  of 

Compensation 

under  the  various  European  systems  is  not  regarded  as  a  and  Medical 

^  '^  ^  First  Aid 

complete  indemnity  but  as  a  substantial  expression  of  the 
impairment  of  earning  capacity.  That  in  the  better  sys- 
tems it  is  neither  allowed  nor  intended  to  recompense 
trivial  injuries  nor  breed  paupers  by  corrupting  thrift. 
That  to  this  end  a  reasonable  waiting  period  is  established 
between  the  reception  of  injury  and  the  allowance  of  com- 
pensation; that  such  precaution  alone  provides  efficient 
defense  against  the  conscious  or  unconscious  exaggeration 
of  slight  injury  and  safeguards  self-reliance.  We  find  fur- 
ther, however,  that  during  such  waiting  period,  from  the 
moment  he  has  notice  of  accident,  the  employer  should 
provide  first  aid  and  necessary  medical  attendance,  thus 
preventing  trivial  injuries  from  becoming  serious  disabil- 
ities throu2:h  iornorance  or  neglect. 


^to"  "fe" 


We  find  that  as  an  essential  feature  of  administration, 
all  European  systems  provide  for  cheap  and  expeditious 
adjustment  of  claims.     That  employer  and  employe  are 


266 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Adjustment 
of  Claims 


encouraged  to  reach  an  agreement.  That  in  the  event  of 
a  dispute  as  to  the  facts  or  application  of  the  law,  resort 
is  had  to  arbitration,  the  finding  of  the  arbitrators  on  ques- 
tions of  fact  being  final  and  appeal  permitted  only  on  ques- 
tions of  law.  We  believe  similar  provisions  advisable, 
practicable  and  attainable  through  the  agency  of  contract 
and  the  creation  of  arbitrators,  by  conferring  powers  of 
arbitration  upon  our  judges  or  persons  chosen  by  the  dis- 
putants, subject  to  ultimate  rights  of  action  which  are 
likely  to  be  exercised  or  remain  dormant  in  accordance 
with  the  practical  operation  of  such  preliminary  aids  to 
agreement. 

XII 


Necessity 
of   Uniform 
Principles  of 
Compensation 
Among  Our 
States 


We  feel  called  upon  to  emphasize  that  any  application 
of  the  compensatory  principle  in  our  own  country  requires 
assurance  of  substantially  uniform  legislation  by  the  states 
of  the  Union.  The  establishment  of  a  variety  of  systems 
differing  in  form  and  substance  and  creating  new  liabili- 
ties, varying  in  nature  and  degree,  would  produce  condi- 
tions too  obviously  harmful  to  require  amplification. 


XIII 


A  Sound 
Policy   of 
Compensation 
a  Primary 
Consideration 


We  are  conscious  that  the  introduction  of  principles 
implying  systematic  compensation  for  accidents  of 
employment  into  our  form  of  government  bristles  with 
legal  difficulties.  We  are  not  here  concerned  with  their 
consideration  or  discussion;  we  are  primarily  interested 
in   the  selection   of  a   sound  policy.     We   believe,   how- 


RECOMMENDATIONS   FOR   ACTION   IN    UNITED   STATES   267 

ever,  that  at  the  present  time  and  during  the  period 
of  investigation  which  must  necessarily  precede  the 
adoption  of  a  satisfactory  system,  voluntary  action  by 
private  employers  should  receive  public  encouragement. 
While  our  legislatures  are  engaged  in  deliberating  over  "Persuasive" 
the  wisest  method  of  exercising  their  powers  of  com- 
pulsion, splendid  forces  may  be  set  in  operation  if  they 
will  give  attention  to  their  opportunities  for  persuasion. 
Pending  the  formulation  of  a  public  system,  the  voluntary 
adoption  of  equitable  schemes  can  be  expedited  by  lessen- 
ing the  liabilities  of  employers  who  guarantee  just  com- 
pensation as  well  as  by  threatening  the  legal  defenses  of 
employers  who  do  not. 

We  therefore  conclude  from  the  better  results  of  Euro-  ^  sound 
pean  experience  that  for  reasons  of  justice,  economy  and  sy^em  ^^^^°" 
well-being  we  ought  to  endeavor  to  substitute  for  a  system  rn^Desh-abie 
in  which  redress  for  injuries  received  in  employment  rests 
upon  established  fault,  one  in  which  limited  compensation 
is  assured  for  all  such  injuries,  by  methods  making  pos- 
sible such  broad  distribution  of  the  burden  as  will  rest  no 
harmful  weight  upon  individuals,  and  protect  and  encour- 
age the   careful   employer.     W^e   believe   assured   limited 
compensation  for  Avork  injuries  to  be  a  desirable  and  nec- 
essary end,  to  be  successfully  executed  through  a  method  of 
insurance  clearly  providing  an  equitable,  certain  and  de- 
finite distribution  of  risk. 

No  scheme  can  be  complete  or  satisfactory  which  does  Accident 

Prevention 

not  inseparably  associate  prevention  with  compensation,  inspection 

..  .,.  ,.  1  •    1       ,     ,  -I  .J       ^"^  Education 

authorizing  intelligent  and  impartial  state  and  private 
inspection,  arousing  public  interest  and  directing  the  pub- 
lic mind  to  the  importance  of  averting  accident,  an  object 


268  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

to  be  attained  through  municipal  and  state  museums  of 
safety  appliance  and  the  continuous  compilation  and  pub- 
lication of  accident  statistics. 

Successful  legislative  action  throughout  Europe  has 
been  preceded  by  deliberate  and  painstaking  investigation, 
extending  in  many  instances  through  years  of  effort  in  the 
collection  and  comparison  of  information.  We  are  fortu- 
nately able  to  avail  ourselves  of  the  most  practical  features 
of  the  Old  World's  labor  and  experience.  But  we  should 
make  a  start  for  ourselves  here  and  now,  providing  at  once 
for  the  accumulation  in  our  respective  states  of  that  ac- 
curate information  Avhich  is  a  basic  necessity  for  intelli- 
gent action.  Having  once  determined  upon  a  rational  pol- 
icy of  compensation,  we  believe  rapid  progress  can  be  made 
in  giving  it  appropriate  legal  form  and  adapting  it  to  our 
customs  and  institutions.  We  should  act  now  and  as  rapid- 
ly as  is  compatible  with  the  greatness  and  complexity  of 
the  subject  and  its  intimate  relation  to  the  prosperity  of 
the  employers  and  workmen  of  our  country. 

We  do  not  believe  we  can  draw  our  discussion  to  a  close 
more  fittingly  than  by  quoting  from  an  English  official 
source  a  statement  that  at  once  epitomizes  our  problem  and 
contains  a  final  word  of  admonition : 

"Whatever  may  be  the  true  view  as  to  the  inci- 
dence of  the  burden  of  compensation  for  accidents, 
it  seems  plain  that  if  the  cost  thrown,  at  all  events 
in  the  first  instance,  on  the  employer  is  excessive, 
the  ultimate  loss  consequent  thereon  will  fall  with 
equal  or  greater  weight  upon  the  workman*  either 
by  diminution  of  wages  or  loss  of  employment,  or 


RECOMMENDATIONS   FOR  ACTION   IN    UNITED   STATES   269 

loss  througli  the  insolvency  of  the  employer.  The 
problem,  therefore,  is  to  attempt  such  an  adjustment 
of  the  burden  as  will  enable  the  great  industries  of 
the  country  to  be  carried  on  without  an  excessive 
share  of  the  losses  occasioned  by  industrial  acci- 
dents being  thrown  either  on  the  employer  or  the 
employed." 


APPENDIX 

PART  ONE 

Letters  from  Prominent  German  Autkoritics  on  tLe  Practical 

Working  of  tLe  German  Social  Insurance   System, 

witk  Special  Reference  to  Accident 

Insurance 


APPENDIX 

PART  I 

However  fair  and  unprejudiced  an  inquiry  is,  the  personal  view- 
point of  the  investigators  is  sure  to  influence  the  findings. 

This  report  is  made  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  humane,  pro- 
gressive employer,  and  is  intended  primarily  for  the  information  of 
employers.  By  humane  and  progressive  employer  is  meant  the  man 
who,  while  having  achieved  success  as  a  manager  of  men  or  captain 
of  industry,  places  humanity,  patriotism  and  good  citizenship  above 
personal  or  class  interest. 

In  order  that  the  reader  may  have  the  opportunity  of  drawing  his 
own  conclusions,  we  print  herewith  a  number  of  letters  written  by 
men  of  great  importance  in  European  systems  of  workmen's  compen- 
sation for  occupational  accidents.  We  call  special  attention  to  the 
first  two  letters,  the  writers  being  Dr.  Kaufmann,  President  of  the 
German  Imperial  Insurance  Department,  and  Dr.  Spiecker,  Chairman 
of  the  League  of  Employers'  Associations  and  President  of  the  Sie- 
mens &  Halske  Company.  There  are  no  bigger  and  broader  men  any- 
where connected  with  the  subject  under  consideration  and  their  readi- 
ness to  help  the  National  Association  of  Manufacturers  in  its  search 
for  information  and  education  should  be  hailed  as  the  first  evidence 
of   international    co-operation    among   employers'    associations. 

That  co-operation  of  this  kind  between  European  and  American 
employers  can  be  of  great  service  to  all  concerned,  requires  no 
prophet's  mind  to  foretell. 

273 


274 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND    RELIEF 


TRANSLATION     OF     LETTER     FROM     DR.     PAUL     KAUFMANN, 
PRESIDENT    GERMAN    IMPERIAL    INSURANCE 
DEPARTMENT 


Success 

Achieved 

Through 

Bismarck's 

Personality 


Compulsory 
Insurance 
Best 


Berlin,  October  11,  1910. 

My  Dear  Mr.  Schwedtman: 

In  view  of  the  enlightened  interest  which 
you  have  shown  in  the  German  system  of 
workers'  social  insurance  during  our  various 
conferences,  I  gladly  comply  with  your  re- 
quest to  sum  up  the  principles  upon  which 
this  great  monument  was  built. 

The     underlying     thought     of     German 
Dk,  Paul  Kaufmann 
President  imperiaiinsurance    workers'    social    insurance    is    a    harmonious 

Department,  Berlin  combination  of  compulsory  and  voluntary  ac- 

tion. Workers'  insurance  is  obligatory  under  the  law  and  the  obligatory 
principle  is  indispensable  for  workers'  insurance  on  a  large  scale.  The 
obligatory  principle  was  very  much  opposed  for  a  while  after  the 
memorable  Imperial  message  of  November  17,  1881.  Only  through 
the  overpowering  personality  of  Prince  Bismarck  could  this  opposition 
be  overcome. 

'^oday  no  further  doubt  exists  in  Germany  as  to  the  necessity  of 
the  obligatory  principle.  There  is  a  growing  demand  for  the  exten- 
sion of  obligatory  insurance  to  the  middle  classes.  The  obligatory 
principle  has  been  recognized,  not  only  in  Germany  but  by  other 
nations,  notably  at  the  last  International  Insurance  Congress  in  Rome. 

Far-reaching  freedom  of  action  is  an  important  part  of  the  Ger- 
man obligatory  system.  Workers'  insurance  is  carried  out  through 
legally  incorporated  organizations  with  extensive  self-governing  privi- 
leges. Accident   insurance    rests    in    the    hands   of    employers'    associa- 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES    275 

tions.  Prince  Bismarck  directed  that  these  employers'  associations 
must  be  given  the  greatest  possible  freedom.  They  must  be  kept  free 
from  unnecessary  restraint,  bureaucratic  control  and  red  tape. 

In  keeping  with  these  directions  employers'  associations  were  Legal  Powers 
given  complete  self-administration  and  were  equipped  with  the  neces-  IssoSations^ 
sary  legal  powers  to  control  their  members  and  enforce  compliance 
with  regulations  by  fines  and  otherwise.  This  holds  good  in  agri- 
culture and  forestry,  as  well  as  in  the  industries,  and  in  invalid- 
ity and  accident  insurance.  The  men  holding  the  honorary  positions 
as  leaders  of  these  associations  have  been  a  strong  and  influential 
force  in  the  progress  and  success  of  the  insurance  system. 

It  is  essentially  the  principle  of  self-administration  that  takes 
away  the  objection  to  compulsion.  German  employers  have  carried 
the  insurance  burdens  willingly.  The  exacting  oflEices  of  elected  lead- 
ers have  been  carried  in  a  spirit  of  patriotic  duty.  To-day  the  ten- 
dency among  employers  is  to  go  further  than  compliance  with  legal 
requirements.  Many  associations  have  pushed  workers'  welfare  much 
beyond  their  legal  duties.    This  is  one  of  the  most  gratifying  features 

accompanying  our  social  legislation.     To-day  employers'  associations —  „ 

Harmonious 

industrial  and  agricultural — work  in  close  harmony  with  state,  terri-   Relations  with 

Government 
torial,   city  and   country  officials   toward   improving  the  conditions  of  Authorities 

the  poorer  classes. 

Social  insurance  has  indeed  been  a  school  of  social  progress  for 
the  whole  German  nation.  Particularly  pleasing  has  been  its  influence 
upon  the  workers.  They  have  carried  their  burden  of  the  cost  of  insur- 
ance and  naturally  they  have  taken  part  in  conducting  the  system.  They 
are  represented  jointly  with  employers  in  arbitration  courts  and  final 
appeal  courts.  The  close  contact  established  between  employers  and 
workers  has  brought  about  better  relationship.  They  have  worked  to- 
gether in  every  way  with  understanding  and  without  prejudice,  and  it 

XI       J.     1.        T-   X  Influence  of 

is  no  doubt  a  result  of  our  social  insurance  that  the  feeling  between   gystem  on  the 

employers  and  workers  is  growing  more  friendly  right  along  and  that   Workers 
there  is  much  less  industrial  strife  here  than  elsewhere. 


276 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Harmony  all 
Around 


Facts  and 
Figures 


Prevention 
Better  Thian 
Cure 


The  happy  combination  of  compulsion  and  voluntary  action  has 
also  worked  out  well  in  the  relation  between  the  insured,  the  insurer 
and  the  state.  Respect  for  legal  authority  on  the  one  side  and  recogni- 
tion of  legal  autonomy  on  the  other  have  produced  complete  har- 
mony all  around  which  has  never  been  disturbed  for  a  moment,  and 
which  is  so  essential  to  success.  9 

You  must  have  been  impressed  with  the  evidences  of  the  harmon- 
ious relations  between  employers  and  government  officials  during  your 
presence  at  the  celebration  of  the  25th  anniversary  of  our  accident  in- 
surance system;  the  evidences  of  our  standing  shoulder  to  shoulder, 
which  were  specially  noticeable  through  spontaneous  and  enthusiastic 
manifestation  of  confidence  and  harmony  with  state  insurance  officials 
that  were  received  from  the  members  of  employers'  associations. 

From  your  studies  you  understand  in  a  general  way  the  manifold 
benefits  of  our  insurance  system.  Nevertheless,  I  want  to  call  at- 
tention to  a  few  facts  and  figures.  Up  to  December  1909,  the  com- 
plete system  (accident,  sickness  and  invalidity  insurance)  paid  $1,925,- 
000,000  to  94,000,000  sick,  injured,  invalidated  workers  and  their  de- 
pendents. The  complete  system  pays  out  daily  $475,000  and  has  accu- 
mulated reserve  funds  amounting  to  $540,000,000.  These  figures  give 
an  indication  of  the   economic   importance   of  social  insurance. 

The  wisdom  of  giving  employers'  associations  all  possible  free- 
dom of  action  becomes  especially  evident  in  two  directions,  namely: 
accident  prevention  and  systematic  care  of  the  injured  and  sick. 
Recognizing  that  it  is  of  prime  importance  to  prevent  injury  since 
compensation  will  never  replace  a  father  who  has  been  killed,  or  make 
up  for  lost  limbs,  state  officials  and  officers  of  employers'  associa- 
tions have  concentrated  their  combined  energies  upon  prevention, 
and  wonderful  have  been  the  results.  ^  Scientific  accident  prevention 
is  now  recognized  as  a  special  and  important  branch  of  technical 
engineering.  Invention  and  prevention  have  gone  hand  in  hand  in 
this  work  as  advance  agents  of  civilization. 

Equally  important  has  proven  systematic  care  of  sick  and  injured 
workers,  in  fact,  it  has  created  a  new  special  field  for  the  medical 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES      277 

profession.    Without  the  aid  of  this  new  agency  our  present  promising  special  Field 

campaign    against    tuberculosis    would    be    impossible.      The    workers'   *°^  Medical 

Science 
lives  preserved   in   this  manner  mean  maintenance  and   increases  of 

our  national  resources,  and  in  this  way  give  plentiful  returns  for  the 
heavy  financial  burdens  which  social  insurance  place  upon  our  eco- 
nomic structure.  It  is  not  an  accident  that  the  unprecedented  expan- 
sion of  German  commerce  and  industry  and  the  wonderful  increase 
in  the  economic  welfare  of  the  nation  during  the  last  twenty  years  have 
happened  concurrently  with  thorough-going  improvement  in  the  con- 
dition of  our  workers.  There  is  a  close  connection  between  the  two 

events.     The  successful  handling  of  the  labor  question  through  social 

Germany's 
insurance   is   one   of   the   strongest   factors    in   Germany's   constantly  Prosperity 
...  Helped     by 

growing  industrial  progress.    May  Germany  find  among  your  country-  system 

men  active  allies  in  the  direction  of  its  arduous  task  for  reform! 

The  United  States  of  North  America  can  build  no  better  monu- 
ment of  its  strength  and  idealistic  sentiment  than  through  a  success- 
ful solution  of  the  problem  of  workers'  social  insurance.  That  this 
may  take  place  soon  is  the  heartfelt  wish  of 

Yours  very  truly, 

(Signed)    Dr.   Paul  Kaufmann, 
President  Imperial  Insurance  Department. 


278 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


TRANSLATION       OF       A       LETTER       FROM       DR.       SPIECKER, 

PRESIDENT  OF  SIEMENS  &  HALSKE  CO.  AND  CHAIRMAN  OF 

THE  LEAGUE  OF  GERMAN  EMPLOYERS'  ASSOCIATIONS 


Bismarck's 
Slogan 


Benefits  Em- 
ploye and 
Employer 
Alike 


Berlin,  Oct.  7,  1910. 
Mb.  F.  C.  Schwedtman, 
My  Dear  Sir: 

In   further   reference  to  our  tod?;    ,    con- 
ference   regarding  workers'   accident    ^  "4   in- 
validity  insurance,   I   want  to   point  c 
lay  special  stress  upon  the  thought  \» 
voiced  in  the  address  of  welcome  on  tl      "'"h 
anniversary   of  our  system   in  the  Reichstag 

„     _   ,    „  building  a  few  days  ago. 

Dh.  f.  a.  Spiecker 

Chairman  League  of  Employ-       During    the    preliminary    consideration    of 

ers'  Associations,  Berlin  ^,  .    ,     .  ,  -r^    .  -,-».  i 

the  social  insurance  laws  Prince  Bismarck 
coined  the  classical  phrase  "Freedom  of  Organization,  Obligatory 
Results."  At  that  time  German  industries  accepted  "obligatory  results" 
under  the  promise  of  "freedom  of  organization,"  which  means  Employ- 
ers' Associations'  self-government  of  their  workers'  compensation  in- 
surance system.  This  principle  seemed  to  give  the  best  promise  of 
meeting  the  desired  statutory  insurance  requirements,  the  underlying 
broad  principles  of  humanity,  and,  above  all,  effective  accident  preven- 
tion. Today,  after  twenty-five  years'  experience,  the  correctness  of  this 
judgment  is  evident. 

Twenty-five  years  have  changed  "obligatory  results"  to  voluntary 
performances.  Today  everybody  who  views  the  situation  without  prej- 
udice must  acknowledge,  and  does  acknowledge,  that  the  task  of  the 
employers'  associations  in  this  field  is  a  great  blessing  not  only  to  the 
workers,  but  to  the  industries.     It  is  perfectly  evident  today  that  we 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES      279 

have  secured  higher  efficiency  in  our  industries  due  to  increased 
workers'  efficiency,  all  brought  about  by  relieving  our  workers  from 
worries  and  distress  on  account  of  sickness,  injury,  superannuation  and 
invalidity. 

You  will  remember  that  each  time  when  I  gave  voice  to  this  senti- 
ment during  my  celebration  speech  the  whole  assemblage  heartily  ap- 
plauded and  this  must  convince  you  that  my  sentiment  and  experience 
are  in  keeping  with  that  of  German  industries. 

Regarding  the  relationship  of  the  Imperial  Insurance  Office  to  the 
self-governed  employers'  insurance  associations,  please  remember  that 
every  speaker  during  the  recent  celebration  laid  stress  upon  the  fact 
that  .  .  relationship  is,  and  has  been,  thoroughly  satisfactory  during 
thp  •    ■"  twenty-five  years.    The  government  insurance  department  has 

'ts    proper    function    in    supervising    watchfulness    to    secure   Does  not 
^    .,_r  compliance  with  the  requirements  of  the  law.    We  have  had  no   ^^^'^  qIi^. 
intc./ence  with  the  management  of  our  associations.  The  relation  be-    Government 
tween  the  two  institutions  is  proof  of  mutual  confidence  as  the  basis 
for  complete  and  harmonious  co-operation. 

Very  truly  yours, 
(Signed)    Dr.  Spiecker. 

Chairman  League  of  German  Employers'  Associations. 


280 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND   RELIEF 


TRANSLATION     OF     LETTERS     FROM      IMPORTANT     MEN      IN 

GERMANY 


Cologne-Bayenthal,  August  23,  1910. 


Workers  Ap- 
preciate 
System 


Mb.  F.  C.  Schwedtman, 

Berlin. 
Dear  Sir: 

In  reply  to  your  favor  of  the  20th  inst.,  I  beg  to  say  that  I  sent  a 
letter  a  few  days  ago  to  Professor  Manes,  in  which  I  expressed  my 
views  concerning  the  German  Accident  Insurance  System.  You  have 
no  doubt  received  this  letter  from  him,  and  I  can,  therefore,  only  add 
the  following: 

(1)  The  German  Accident  Insurance  System  has  proven  very  sat- 
isfactory both  from  a  business  and  a  humane  point  of  view. 

(2)  I  would  not  consider  it  advisable  to  abolish  our  accident  com- 
pensation insurance  laws. 

(3)  It  is  my  belief  that  compulsory  insurance  is  necessary  in 
order  to  bring  about  a  general  enforcement  of  the  system. 

(4)  I  am  convinced  that  the  overwhelming  majority  of  German 
workingmen  employed  in  industrial  occupations,  particularly  those  pos- 
sessing special  skill,  and,  therefore,  a  higher  order  of  intelligence, 
thoroughly  appreciate  the  benefits  of  accident  insurance,  although  a 
great  many  of  them  are  afraid  to  express  their  opinion  freely  on  ac- 
count of  the  pressure  which  is  brought  to  bear  on  them  by  their  or- 
ganizations. 

(5)  Not  one-fourth  of  the  German  workingmen  are  organized  as 
yet.     I  am  sure  that  if  we  had  not  adopted  our  accident  insurance 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES      281 

laws  25  years  ago,  workingmen's  organizations  would  be  a  good  deal  Growth  of 

Unions 
more  numerous  and  much  stronger  than  they  are  today.  Retarded 

(6)  The  workingmen's  indirect  contribution  to  accident  insurance 
through  the  so-called  "Krankenkassen"  (sick  funds),  out  of  which  the 
compensation  for  accidents  is  taken  during  the  first  thirteen  weeks,  is 

of    little    importance.    Simulation    is    checked    by    selecting    competent  simulation 
physicians   and   exercising   strict   supervision   over   those    injured   by  Djfflcult 
accident. 

(7)  I  would  not  be  in  favor  of  increasing  the  workingmen's  con- 
tribution to  accident  insurance,  since  in  the  long  run  their  contribu- 
tion is  paid  by  the  employers  anyway,  and  I  do  not  see  any  reason 
why  the  workingmen  should  be  given  the  impression  that  the  money 

comes  partly  out  of  their  own  pockets.     The  moment  this  is  done  they 

Workers' 
will  want  to  take  part  in  the  management  of  the  Employers'  Associa-  share  Large 

tions,  and  no  end  of  trouble  would  be  the  result. 

(8)  If  an  accident  insurance  system  is  to  be  adopted  by  the  in- 
dustrialists of  a  country  I  think  it  would  be  desirable,  though  not  nec- 
essary, for  them  to  call  upon  the  employers  of  farm  help  to  co-operate 
with  them  towards  that  end. 

(9)  In  my  opinion,  the  above  views  are  shared  by  a  majority  of 
the  German  employers. 

Yours  truly,  '    . 

(Signed)  Ernst  Lechner. 
Chairman  Machine  Builders'  and  Hardware  Manufacturers'  Association. 


282 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Mainz,  September  1,  1910. 


System  Ideal 


Compulsion 
Necessary 


Workers 
Satisfied 


Mb.  F.  C.  Schwedtman, 

Berlin. 
Dear  Sir: 

Answering  your  favor  of  the  20th  ult.,  I  beg  to  say  the  following: 
In  my  opinion,  the  accident  insurance  system  prevailing  in  Ger- 
many at  the  present  time  is  not  only  good,  but  ideal.  Changes,  ex- 
cept in  minor  details,  do  not  seem  to  me  to  be  either  necessary  or 
advisable.  The  system  has  stood  the  test  both  from  a  humane  point 
of  view ,  and  otherwise.  To  think  of  abolishing  it  would  be  absurd. 
Insurance  under  a  national  system  of  this  kind  must,  in  my  opinion, 
be  compulsory,  if  success  is  to  be  achieved.  Experience  has  shown 
that,  if  left  to  the  individual  employer's  discretion,  insurance  is  not 
taken  out  by  a  great  many.  Not  only  is  this  detrimental  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  workingmen  of  such  employers,  but  obviously  other  em- 
ployers, more  keenly  alive  to  their  duties  and  responsibilities,  are  also 
affected. 

In  spite  of  the  efforts  of  social  democracy  to  minimize  the  benefits 
of  accident  insurance,  German  workingmen  are  undoubtedly  better 
satisfied  under  the  present  system  than  they  would  be  without  it.  At 
least,  those  who  have  experienced  the  benefits  afforded  by  the  system 
feel  it  as  a  blessing.  Class  distinctions  have  been  alleviated  by  the 
adoption  of  accident  insurance  laws.  It  was  not  without  reason  that 
the  French  social  democrat  Herve  exclaimed,  at  the  Socialist  Congress 
in  Stuttgart  several  years  ago,  pointing  to  the  well-satisfied  appear- 
ance of  the  German  workingmen:  "They  are  no  Proletarians  at  all, 
but  belong  to  the  Bourgeoisie."  Other  indications  that  the  German 
workingmen  are  coming  to  their  senses  are  also  in  evidence.  At  any 
rate,  the  effects  of  accident  insurance  and  accident  prevention  are 
making  themselves  felt  socially  in  a  most  favorable  manner.  As  the 
compensation  is  paid  out  of  the  Sick  Fund  during  the  first  13  weeks, 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES       283 

the  workingmen  bear  a  certain  part  of  the  cost  of  accident  insurance, 
their  contribution  to  this  Fund  being  two-thirds.  This  constitutes 
only  a  very  small  fraction  of  the  total  expense  of  sickness  insurance 
and  even  a  smaller  part  of  the  cost  of  accident  insurance,  however. 
It  was  more  on  account  of  their  being  local  organizations  and,  there- 
fore, better  able  to  render  prompt  aid  in  case  of  accident,  that  the 
Sick  Funds  were  called  upon  to  render  the  initial  payments  to  injured 
workers.  Again,  the  fact  should  not  be  overlooked  that  the  employers 
who,  nominally,  only  pay  one-third  of  the  contributions  making  up 
the  Sick  Fund  (the  other  two-thirds  being  paid  by  the  workingmen  jn  the  End 
themselves)  in  reality  pay  all  of  it,  since  the  adoption  of  laws  com-  p^^i^^Al? 
pelling  workers  to  insure  themselves  against  sickness  through  the  so- 
called  "Krankenkassen"  (Sick  Funds)  resulted  in  a  general  increase 
in  wages.  The  assertion  may  safely  be  made  that  the  cost  of  any 
system  of  compensating  workingmen  must,  in  the  end,  be  borne  by 
the  employers,  directly  or  indirectly. 

Simulation  is  no  doubt  diminished  by  the  fact  that  the  first  pay- 
ments are  made  out  of  the  Sick  Fund,  the  officers  of  which,  being  on 
the  ground,  are  in  a  position  to  ascertain  the  true  extent  of  injuries 
caused  by  an  accident.  The  Employers'  Associations,  however,  pro-  simulation 
tect  themselves  very  effectively  against  simulation  by  means  of  sys- 
tematic medical  surveillance  (if  necessary  in  sanitariums,  etc.)  and 
in  other  ways  by  keeping  in  touch  with  the  injured  man  through  his 
former  employer  and  their  own  officials. 

In  my  opinion,  it  would  be  inadvisable  to  increase  the  working- 
men's  contributions  to  accident  insurance,  as  such  contributions 
would  eventually  come  out  of  the  employers'  pockets,  anyway,  and 
would,  therefore,  only  cause  needless  complications.  The  German 
Accident  Insurance  System  is  properly  based  on  the  theory  that  the 
damage  caused  to  life  and  limb  by  industrial  accidents  must  practi- 
cally be  made  good  by  the  employers,  as  part  of  their  manufacturing 
cost. 

On  general  social  principles  it  is  undoubtedly  desirable  that  agri- 
cultural  occupations   are   included   in  the  accident  insurance   system. 


284 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Statistics 
Show  Degree 
of  Hazard 


It  is,  however,  of  no  economic  importance  to  the  industrial  employer 
whether  or  not  agricultural  workers  are  also  insured  against  accidents 
the  same  as  those  engaged  in  industrial  occupations.  The  only  effect 
the  non-insurance  of  agricultural  workers  can  have  is  to  increase  the 
number  of  men  available  for  industrial   activities. 

It  is  my  belief  that  to  operate  an  accident  insurance  system  suc- 
cessfully, whether  it  applies  to  industry  or  to  agriculture,  or  to  both, 
it  is  necessary  to  organize  the  employers  into  groups  and  to  ascertain 
the  varying  degrees  of  hazard  for  each  occupation  by  means  of  care- 
fully kept  statistics,  on  which  the  cost  of  the  insurance  to  each  em- 
ployer should  be  based. 

There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  German  employers  are  unani- 
mous in  their  opinion  with  reference  to  the  points  discussed  above. 

Yours  very  truly, 
(Signed)       Martin  May, 
Chairman  Employers'  Association  for  the  Leather  Industry. 


Berlin,  August  24,  1910. 


Adequacy  of 
Compensa- 
tion 


My  Deab  Peofessor  Manes: 

In  reply  to  your  inquiry  of  the  22nd  inst.,  I  beg  to  say  that  the 
German  System  of  Accident  Insurance,  in  my  opinion,  answers  its 
purpose  admirably.  The  object  of  this  system  is  to  make  the  employers 
instead  of  the  workingmen  bear  the  economic  consequences  of  indus- 
trial accidents,  the  underlying  principle  being  that  the  former  are  the 
principal  beneficiaries  of  industrial  activity  and,  therefore,  responsi- 
ble for  the  damage  to  life  and  limb  caused  by  accidents.  The  rule 
established  to  pay  the  workingmen  two-thirds  of  their  previous  earn- 
ings in  the  case  of  complete  disability  seems  to  me  to  be  a  fair  one. 

In  fixing  the  maximum  compensation  at  two-thirds  of  the  annual 
earning  capacity  the  fact  has  been  taken  into  account  that  working- 
men  can  considerably  reduce  their  living  expenses  when  not  at  work; 


LETTERS  P^ROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES       285 

at  the  same  time  they  are  less  apt  to  "take  chances"  in  their  work 
than  if  the  compensation  amounted  to  their  entire  earnings. 

Another  still  more  valuable  feature  of  our  accident  insurance  sys- 
tem is  the  fact  that  only  employers  in  the  same  line  of  industry  and 
operating  under  more  or  less  the  same  hazards  are  organized  into  one  org-anizing 

insurance  association.     It  is  obvious  that  manufacturers  in  the  same  Employers  by 

Industries 

line  of  industry  know  best  just  how  to  meet  the  element  of  danger 
in  their  establishments  and  how  to  devise  the  proper  accident  pre- 
vention measures  based  on  practical  experience. 

Furthermore,  it  is  a  very  good  plan  to  let  the  employers  manage 
this  branch  of  insurance  themselves  without  giving  the  authorities  too 
much  chance  for  interference. 

It  also  seems  to  me  to  be  the  correct  point  of  view  to  base  the 
workingman's  right  to  compensation  solely  on  the  fact  that  an  acci- 
dent has  occurred,  regardless  of  who  is  responsible  for  it.     Formerly 

the   law   required   that   the   employer's   responsibility   for   an   accident 

Cause  of  Ac- 
be  proven  and  this  led  to  unreasonable  demands  and  to  conditions  in   cident  Imma- 

general  which  became  practically  unbearable.  All  this  was  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  laws  of  the  land  seemed  to  be  in  conflict  with  the 
ever-growing  sense  of  social  responsibility.  Our  present  accident 
laws  have  successfully  met  this  situation. 

Trusting  that  the  above  remarks  will  assist  you  in  your  investi- 
gation, I  beg  to  remain, 

Yours  etc., 

(Signed)       Dr.  W.  Waldschmidt, 

Director  Ludwig  Loewe  &  Co. 


286 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


WoLFSwiNKEL,  September  21,  1910. 


Could  not 
Conceive  of 
Better 
System 


Strengthens 
Employers' 
Feeling  of 
Solidarity 


Mr.  F.  C.  Schwedtman, 

Berlin. 
Dear  Sir:  * 

After  having  been  absent  for  four  weeks,  I  find  your  valued  favor 
of  the  20th  ult,  upon  my  return.  Kindly  excuse  the  delay  in  an- 
swering. 

As  you  may  infer  from  the  fact  that  I  am  the  Chairman  of  an 
Employers'  Association,  I  am  heartily  in  favor  of  accident  compensa- 
tion insurance,  and  particularly  of  the  German  system  in  its  present 
form.  Without  any  fear  of  contradiction,  I  may  safely  claim  it 
has  operated  in  an  exceptionally  satisfactory  manner,  both  from  a 
business  and  a  humane  point  of  view.  Indeed,  I  could  not  conceive 
of  anything  better  adapted  to  meet  the  requirements.  I  am  quite  in 
favor  of  leaving  the  larger  part  of  the  burden  of  expense  with  the  em- 
ployers. My  opinion,  which,  by  the  way,  is  shared  by  an  overwhelm- 
ing majority  of  the  German  employers,  is  that  it  would  be  anything 
but  wise  to  revive  the  conditions  which  existed  before  our  present 
system  was  adopted — conditions  which  had  become  practically  un- 
bearable owing  to  the  inadequacy  of  private  insurance  companies  and 
the  legal  battles  constantly  under  way.  General  compulsory  insurance 
is  necessary  to  prevent  discrimination  and  consequent  unrest  and  dis- 
satisfaction.    It  also  strengthens  the  employers'  feeling  of  solidarity. 

So  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge,  the  trade  unions  have  not  been 
affected  one  way  or  the  other  by  our  accident  insurance  system;  on 
the  other  hand,  the  public  charity  organizations  which  formerly  had 
to  care  for  the  victims  of  industrial  accidents  are  now  much  relieved 
and  can  use  their  resources  for  other  purposes. 

The  system  is  appreciated  to  a  greater  extent  by  the  workingmen 
in  the  small  rural  industrial  districts  than  by  those  in  the  large  cen- 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES       287 

ters,  where  agitation  and  demagogism  are  at  work.  The  workingmen 
pay  their  contribution  to  the  Sick  Fund  quite  willingly — more  in  view 
of  possible  sickness,  of  course,  than  because  of  the  comparatively 
lesser  chance  of  accidents. 

Neither  do  the  workingmen  take  exception  to  the  amount  of  the  workers' 
cash  contributions  they  have  to  make  to  the  Sick  Funds  because  the 
benefits  paid  to  them  are  proportionately  high  and  their  families  are 
benefited  by  contributory  insurance.  Simulation  is  diminished,  too. 
The  workingmen's  contribution,  therefore,  has  a  beneficial  effect  on. 
the  system  generally. 

■A  national  system  of  accident  insurance,  in  my  opinion,  should 
include  agricultural  occupations,  and  I  believe  German  agriculture 
has  been  greatly  benefited  by  being  made  a  part  of  the  general  acci- 
dent insurance  system. 

I  trust  that  these  few  remarks  will  give  you  an  idea  of  how  our 

accident  insurance  system  is  looked  upon  by  German  employers,  and 

I  beg  to  remain, 

Yours  truly, 

(Signed)   Karl  Marggraff. 

Chairman  Paper  Manufacturers'  Association. 


Dresden,   September   13,   1910. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Schwedtman: 

Employers'  Associations  have  now  existed  in  Germany  for  25  years, 
during  all  of  which  time  I  have  acted  as  chairman  of  the  Saxonian 
Woodworkers'  Employers'  Association,  so  that  I  am  speaking  from 
practical  experience  in  answering  your  questions  as  follows: 

(1)  Do  you  approve  the  German  Accident  Insurance  System  in  its 
present  form? 

In  my  opinion  the  system  is  exceedingly  practical,  especially  be- 
cause of  the  self-governing  feature  of  the  Employers'  Associations,  by 
which  all  red  tape  is  eliminated  and  injured  workingmen  enabled  to  ^^  j^^^ 
secure  an  income  or  a  pension  as  quickly  as  possible  and  without  the   Tape 
necessity  of  complying  with  irksome  formalities. 


288 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Only  Minor 
Points  Sus- 
ceptible of 
Improvement 


Socialists  An- 
tag'onistic  to 
System 


Public  Charity 
Relieved 


(2)  What  changes  would  you  suggest? 

"We  approve  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  our  accident  insur- 
ance system.  In  minor  points,  such  as  the  accumulation  of  too  large 
a  reserve  fund,  the  miscarriage  of  justice  by  allowing  pensions  for 
small. injuries,  etc.,  we  think  the  system  is  susceptible  of  improvements. 

(3)  Has  the  German  system  stood  the  test  b^th  from  a  humane 
and  a  business  point  of  view? 

The  German  system  has  proven  very  satisfactory  from  both  points 
of  view. 

(4)  If  it  were  possible  to  abrogate  all  German  accident  compensa- 
tion and  insurance  laws,  would  you  be  in  favor  of  doing  so? 

By  no  means;  for  that  would  be  downright  folly. 

(5)  Do  you  consider  general  compulsory  insurance  absolutely 
essential  to  the  success  of  a  national  system? 

Yes. 

(6)  Does  the  accident  insurance  system  make  the  German  work- 
ingman  better  satisfied? 

Gratitude  for  accident  pensions  is  frequently  met  with  in  German 
workingmen,  but  social  democracy  takes  good  care  not  to  let  this  feel- 
ing become  general  among  the  workingmen. 

(7)  Has  the  accident  insurance  system  strengthened  or  weakened 
workingmen's  organizations  (trade  unions)? 

Since  the  employers  bear  the  greater  burden  of  accident  insur- 
ance and  therefore  manage  the  affairs  of  their  insurance  associations  to 
suit  themselves,  our  accident  insurance  system  does  not  exert  any  in- 
fluence on  trade  unions. 

(8)  What  is  the  social  and  economic  result  of  the  German  Acci- 
dent Insurance  and  Accident  Prevention  System?  (Sickness  insur- 
ance, old  age  and  disability  insurance  do  not  enter  into  consideration 
at  this  time.) 

German  workingmen  injured  by  accidents  no  longer  become  a 
burden  on  public  charity,  and  the  formerly  frequent  sight  of  cripples. 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES      289 

street   musicians    and   beggars    is   no    longer    met   with.    Through   the 

accident  prevention  system  all   employers  are  obliged,  under  penalty 

of  heavy  fines  and  even  imprisonment,  to  install  in  their  plants  such 

accident  prevention  appliances  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  Industrial   Accident  Pre- 
vention De- 
Board  of  Inspection  and  the  Employers'  Association.    At  regular  inter-  manded  by 

vals  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Employers'  Association  inspects  the 

various  plants  within  its  jurisdiction  and  sees  that  they  are  equipped 

with  the  necessary  improvements  and  devices  for  preventing  accidents. 

(9)  Is  the  workers'  contribution  to  the  accident  insurance  bene- 
fits (through  the  compensation  for  the  first  thirteen  weeks  paid  out  of 
the  Sick  Funds)   of  any  importance? 

While  this  contribution  does  not  amount  to  very  much,  it  is  of 
value  because  the  Sick  Fund  authorities  clear  up  the  facts  in  the  case 
and  make  it  apparent  at  once  whether  an  accident  exists  or  not. 

(10)  Has  it  diminished  simulation? 

Simulation  has  undoubtedly  increased  rather  than  diminished. 
Many  workingmen  will  stop  short  of  nothing  to  procure  a  pension  for 
themselves  through  the  accident  insurance  system. 

(11)  Are  you  in  favor  of  increasing  the  workingmen's  contribu- 
tion or  would  you  eliminate  it  altogether? 

We  employers   are  not   in  favor   of  increasing  the  workingmen's  .^ 

contribution,  since  this  would  entitle  them  to  a  voice  in  the  manage-   Workers'  Con- 
tribution not 
ment  of  the  Employers'  Associations,  and,  therefore,  enable  socialistic  Desirable 

agents  to  penetrate  into  our  very  midst,  thus  opening  the  door  to  their 

propaganda,  as  was  shown  in  connection  with  the  Sick  Funds. 

(12)  Is  it  of  any  interest  to  the  industrialist  to  have  the  farmer 
covered  in  a  national  accident  compensation  system? 

Yes;  if  for  no  other  reason,  justice  demands  it. 

(13)  Do  many  other  employers  share  your  opinion  on  the  above 
points? 

I  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  other  employers  hold  the  same 
views  as  I  do  with  regard  to  our  accident  insurance  system. 

The  above  in  answer  to  your  questions.  My  statements,  as  al- 
ready   suggested,    are    based    on    25    years'    practical    experience.      Of 


290  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

course,  there  are  many  details  which  might  be  of  interest  and  I  shall 
be  pleased  to  give  you  any  further  information  desired. 

Yours  truly, 

(Signed)    Ernst  Grumbt, 

Chairman  Saxonian  Woodworkers'   Employers'  Association. 


Ranks  Among 
Greatest 
Achievements 
of  Nineteenth 
Century 


A  Great  and 
Noble  Task 
Accomplished 


Berlin,  September  21,  1910. 
Mr.  F.  C.  Schwedtman, 

Hotel  Bristol. 
My  Dear  Sir: 

/  German  legislation  for  the  protection  of  workmen,  in  my  opinion, 
ranks  among  the  greatest  achievements  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Its 
chief  value  lies  in  the  fact  that  all  workmen  and  administrative  offi- 
cials who  depend  upon  their  labor,  strength  and  health  for  a  living 
are,  by  law,  protected  against  distress  caused  by  sickness,  accident, 
disability  or  old  age,  and  guaranteed  the  right  to  an  income  sufficient 
to  keep  them  out  of  the  poor  house. 

This  legislation  has  accomplished  what  in  the  well-known  Imperial 
message  of  November,  1881,  was  pronounced  to  be  the  first  and  noblest 
task  that  could  devolve  upon  any  commonwealth. 

That  other  countries  have  either  already  followed  Germany's  lead 
or  are  preparing  laws  for  the  protection  and  compensation  of  working- 
men,  can,  therefore,  be  readily  understood  and  must  prove  a  source 
of  gratification  to  our  people.  What  has  been  accomplished  by  Ger- 
many in  the  way  of  accident  and  disability  insurance  was  again 
demonstrated  to  the  entire  world,  both  orally  and  in  writing,  during 
the  25th  anniversary  of  these  branches  of  our  insurance  system  on 
October  1,  1910. 

As  the  president  of  the  second  largest  employers'  association  in 
Germany,  the  Storage  Employers'  Association,  I  principally  had  acci- 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES       291 

dent  compensation  insurance  in  view  in  making  the  above  remarks, 
but  it  may  be  claimed  without  exaggeration  that  the  other  two  branches 
of  insurance  have  proven  equally  desirable. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Emil  Jacob, 

Chairman  of  the  Storage  Employers'  Association,  and  Secretary  of  the 
League  of  German  Employers'  Associations. 


Cologne-Bayenthal,  August  15,  1910. 
My  Dear  Professor: 

Your  favor  of  the  8th  Inst,  only  reached  me  to-day,  as  I  have  been 
traveling  about  from  place  to  place;  I,  therefore,  trust  you  will  excuse 
the  delay  in  answering. 

You  desire  to  have  my  opinion  concerning  the  expediency  of  the 

German  Accident   Insurance  System.     I    could  merely   answer  that   I 

consider  this  institution  and  the  laws  on  which  it  is  based  Germany's 

greatest  achievement  in  the  line  of  social  reform  in  the  last  three  dec-  Germany's 

Greatest 
ades.     I  am  not    egotistical   enough,   however,  to  believe  that  such  a  Achievement 

personal  statement  on  my  part  would  impress  the  industrialists  of  the  j^jg^^^jeg 
United  States  to  any  great  extent  or  have  any  influence  towards  the 
adoption  of  a  similar  system  in  the  United  States,  and  I,  therefore, 
prefer  to  call  your  attention  to  the  "Report  on  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Extraordinary  Session  of  the  Employers'  Associations,  held  on  May 
26,  1909,"  which  may  be  considered  an  authoritative  and  impressive 
document  in  proof  of  the  fact  that  the  duly  authorized  representatives 
of  all  German  Employers'  Associations,  comprising  every  trade  and 
industry  in  the  empire,  consider  our  accident  insurance  system  so  ex- 
cellent and  efficient  an  institution  that  only  minor  details  of  it  seem 


Radical 
Changes  not 
Desired 


292  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

susceptible  of  improvement  to  them  and  they  are  not  in  favor  of  fun- 
damental changes  such  as  the  government,  in  its  new  bill  relating  to 
Imperial  Insurance  Regulation,  is  aiming  at.  Resolutions  to  this  effect 
were  passed  unanimously  by  the  associations  represented  and  there  was 
not  a  single  dissenting  voice  on  the  subject,  all  of  which  speaks  vol- 
umes for  the  accident  insurance  system  in  its  preset  form. 

Yours  very  truly, 
(Signed)   Ernst  Lechner. 

Chairman  of  the  Machine  Builders'  and  Hardware  Manufacturers'  As- 
sociation. 


Berlin,  September  16,  1910. 


Territorial 
Associations 
Versus  Ger- 
man  System 


Mb.  Ferdinand  C.  Schwedtman, 

Hotel   Bristol. 
Dear  Sir: 

In  reply  to  your  inquiry  of  the  20th  ult.,  and  the  12th  inst.,  which 
greatly  honors  me,  I  beg  to  advise  you  that  I  entirely  approve  of  the 
German  Accident  Insurance  System  by  which  homogeneous  lines  of 
industry  are  organized  into  Employers'  Associations,  which  are  granted 
the  right  of  self-government.  Nevertheless,  in  adopting  a  new  system 
of  accident  insurance  it  should  be  carefully  considered  whether  the 
preference  should  not  be  given  to  Employers'  Associations  organized 
territorially,  by  provinces,  districts  or  the  like,  the  same  as  in  old  age 
and  invalidity  insurance,  rather  than  to  the  German  associations 
which  consist  of  employers  in  kindred  lines  of  industry.  My  reason 
for  this  suggestion  is  the  fact  that  it  is  frequently  difficult  to  tell  to 
just  what  association  an  employer  belongs.  Joint  hazard  tariffs  could  be 
created  to  properly  gauge  the  occupational  hazards  in  the  different 
Industries  represented  by  each  Territorial  Association.  Whether,  as  a 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES       293 

matter  of  public  policy,  it  would  not  be  advisable  to  let  the  workmen   Might  Let 

Workers 
take  part  in  the  management  of  the  Accident  Insurance  Associations,  Help  in 

even  though  they  contribute  little  to  the  cost  of  the  system,  is  a  ques-  ?^^^^?1^a  Jj^" 
tion  which  merits  careful  attention.  In  exercising  their  right  of  rep-  ci^tions 
resentation  in  the  Tribunals  of  Arbitration  for  workmen's  insurance 
and  in  the  Imperial  Insurance  Office,  the  workmen  have  always  con- 
ducted themselves  in  an  unobjectionable  manner. 

There  cannot  be  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  German  Accident  In- 
surance System  has  proven  most  satisfactory  both  from  a  business  and 
a  humane  point  of  view.  The  employer  is  benefited  by  it  as  much  as 
the  workman.     It  formerly  was  possible  for  injured  workmen  to  bring 

suit  against  individual  employers  for   damages  of  simply   unheard-of 

Accident  Com- 
proportions — and  that  without  incurring  any  expense,  by  simply  prov-  pensation   in- 
surance 
ing  themselves  paupers — and  the  court  decisions  rendered  frequently  versus  Em- 
drove   employers   into  brankruptcy.     If   the   case  was   decided   in   the    ^iJity^^ 
employer's  favor,  on  the  other  hand,  the  workman  became  an  object 
of  public  charity  and  had  to  go  to  the  poorhouse.     Now  the  workman 
has    a   clearly    established   right   to    compensation,    and    damage   suits 
with  all  their  attendant  evils  are,  therefore,  made  impossible.     I  would 
not  be  in  favor  of  abolishing  the  German  Accident  Insurance  System 
by  any  means  and  believe  in  compulsory  insurance  as  absolutely  nec- 
essary to  its  success. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  the  German  workmen  have  become  better 
satisfied  on  account  of  the  rights  granted  to  them  by  our  accident  in- 
surance laws,  but,  on  the  contrary,  trade  unions  have  been  strength- 
ened by  these  laws. 

The  social  consequences  of  the  German  Accident  Insurance  and 
Accident  Prevention  System  cannot  fail  to  be  noticed.  Even  if  the 
workingman  has  to  assume  one-third  of  the  risk  himself  he  is,  as  al- 
ready mentioned,  placed  in  a  much  better  position  financially  in  case 
of  accidents  than  formerly.  As  the  accident  prevention  measures 
initiated  by  the  Employers'  Associations  contribute  a  great  deal 
towards  reducing  the  number  of  accidents,  the  beneficial  social  influ- 


294 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


"Workers' 

Contribution 

Necessary- 


Co-operation 
of  Agricul- 
ture and 
Industry 


ence  of  the  laws  makes  itself  felt  in  more  than  one  direction.  The 
workingmen's  contribution  to  the  accident  insurance  benefits  (on  ac- 
count of  the  compensation  being  taken  out  of  the  Sick  Funds  during 
the  first  thirteen  weeks)  is  necessary,  since  otherwise  the  Employers' 
Associations  would  have  to  deal  with  a  large  number  of  minor  injuries 
which  do  not  as  a  rule  impair  the  earning  capacit^^  of  their  victims. 
The  Employers'  Associations  are  at  liberty,  however,  to  look  after  such 
cases  at  any  time  before  the  expiration  of  the  thirteen  weeks,  if  they 
think  they  can  accelerate  the  cure  by  so  doin^.  Simulation  has  not  been 
diminished  by  the  laws  passed  for  the  protection  of  the  workmen,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  has  been  fostered  and  promoted  by  it.  Financially 
the  workmen's  contribution  is  not  necessary,  as  the  employers  in  both 
agriculture  and  industry  are  very  well  able  to  carry  the  burden  of 
accident  insurance  alone,  provided  that  burden  is  evenly  distributed 
the  way  this  is  done  by  the  German  System.  For  that  reason  it  is  of 
great  interest  to  the  industrial  employer  to  have  agriculture  made  a 
part  of  the  national  accident  insurance  system. 

In  conclusion  I  would  say  that  the  views  expressed  above  are  ap- 
proved by  the  majority  of  the  employers  in  my  line,  and  beg  to  remain, 

Yours,  etc., 
(Signed)  J.  Falkenhaueb, 
Chairman  of  the  Team  Owners'  Association, 


Berlin,  August   11,   1910. 


Professor  Dr.  Alfred  Manes: 
Dear  Sir: 

It  is  a  difficult  matter  to  do  justice,  in  a  few  words,  to  the  import- 
ance of  our  social  legislation  and  the  value  of  our  accident  insurance 
system. 

The  financial  aspect  counts  most.  By  glancing  at  the  enormous 
sums   raised   by   employers   in    the   last  25   years   for   the   purpose   of 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES       295 

compensating  workmen  injured  by  accidents,  it  is  realized  how  much  Distress  ana 

distress  and  misery   the  system   has  alleviated,  if  not  entirely  elimi-  r:,!^^^J  ^  ^ 

•^  Eliminated 

nated.  While,  in  former  times,  the  workman  could  obtain  com- 
pensation only  by  proving  the  employer's  liability  for  the  accident, 
and  was  reduced  to  dire  poverty  long  before  his  case  had  been  passed 
upon  by  the  courts,  he  now  has  a  fully  established  right  to  compensa- 
tion, even  if,  as  happens  quite  frequently,  the  accident  was  caused  by 
his  own  fault.  The  broad  view  that  any  harm  befalling  a  work- 
man through  the  very  existence  of  a  manufacturing  establishment  in 
which  he  is  employed  must  be  offset,  as  far  as  possible,  by  some 
equivalent  in  the  shape  of  a  fixed  compensation,  has  resulted  in  an 
achievement  the  value  of  which  cannot  be  overestimated. 

It  is  true  that  there  is  another  side  to  the  question  which  it  is 
not  our  intention  to  conceal.  The  prospect  of  being  adequately  com- 
pensated for  any  injury  he  may  suffer,  diminishes  the  workman's 
sense  of  responsibility.  The  man  who  receives  an  income  without  gome  Draw- 
working,  especially  after  he  has  lived  in  idleness  for  a  comparatively  ^^  ^ 
long  period  of  time,  loses  his  fondness  for  work  as  well  as  his  effi- 
ciency. Hence  the  wild  scramble  for  pensions,  with  its  disagreeable 
attendant  features,  simulation  and  pension  hysterics.  This  state  of 
affairs,  it  is  true,  is  fostered  by  the  long  protracted  procedure  of  appeal. 

It  would  be  difficult,  however,  to  overestimate  the  influence  which 
accident  compensation  by  insurance  has  exerted  in  bringing  together 
manufacturers  in  the  same  line  of  industry  and  in  giving  them  a  bet- 
ter understanding  of  their  common  needs  and  interests.  Unselfish  de-  Manufac- 
votion  and  unbounded  enthusiasm  have  been  brought  to  the  preparation 
of  measures  for  the  prevention  of  accidents  and  each  one  has  helped, 
to  the  best  of  his  ability,  to  solve  the  problem  of  how  best  to  insure 
the  safety  of  life  and  limb  in  any  given  line  of  industry.  The  narrow- 
minded  exclusiveness  which  formerly  kept  manufacturers  in  the  same 
line  of  industry  away  from  each  other  has  ceased;  one  has  become 
the  other's  teacher,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  growth  of  our  indus- 
tries in  the  last  two  decades  is  due  in  no  small  measure  to  the  work 
of  our  Employers'  Associations. 


Employers 
Welded  To- 
gether 


New  Govern- 
ment Bill 
Thought  a 
Menace  to 
Accident 
Compensation 
Insurance 


Most 

Beneficial 
Legislative 
Work  Ever 
Undertaken 


296  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

From  a  political  point  of  view,  too,  our  Employers'  Associations 
have  undoubtedly  done  a  great  deal  of  good.  The  North  and  the  South, 
the  East  and  the  West  have  been  brought  into  contact  with  each  other. 
Local  prejudices  have  disappeared,  and  a  feeling  of  solidarity,  a  desire 
to  co-operate  towards  a  common  goal,  have  sprung  up  in  their  stead  and 
borne  many  a  ripe  fruit.  This  also  accounts  for  thf  unanimous  stand 
taken  by  German  employers  against  the  insurance  reform  propositions 
recently  advanced  by  the  Imperial  government.  How  much  of  these 
propositions  will  become  law  cannot  be  foreseen  at  this  time.  At  any 
rate,  the  tendency  in  the  government  bill  to  restrict  the  self-govern- 
ment of  the  Employers'  Associations  and  to  increase  the  workmen's 
sphere  of  influence  must  be  pronounced  as  exceedingly  regrettable. 
German  industrialists  are  thoroughly  in  sympathy  with  the  idea  of 
extending  the  benefits  of  accident  insurance  to  the  largest  number  of 
workmen  possible,  and  they  will  also  hail  with  delight  any  measure 
which  will  shorten  the  proceedings  for  fixing  the  pensions  or  allow- 
ances and  the  procedure  of  appeal.  The  attempt,  on  the  other  hand, 
to  create  a  so-called  joint  substructure  (insurance  offices)  for  all 
branches  of  governmental  insurance,  cannot  be  fought  vigorously 
enough,  since  it  would  ultimately  lead  to  a  restriction  of  the  work  of 
the  Employers'  Associations  which  has  proven  so  beneficial  in  the 
past.  Just  apprehension  is  felt  that  such  measures  will  have  the 
effect  of  deterring  the  oflScers  of  the  Employers'  Associations,  whose  un- 
selfish devotion  and  enthusiasm  have  contributed  more  than  anything 
else  to  the  success  of  our  social  legislation,  from  taking  any  further 
part  in  this  work. 

I  desire  to  sum  up  my  views  by  stating  that  in  my  opinion  the 
German  Accident  Compensation  Insurance  System  has  benefited  the 
nation  politically,  economically  and  socially  to  a  greater  extent  than 
any  other  legislative  work  ever  undertaken. 

(Signed)      G.  Kraemek, 
Chairman  of  the  Employers'  Association   for  the  Chemical   Industry. 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES       297 

Bromberg,  September  17,  1910. 

Mb.  Ferd.  C.  Schwedtman, 
Dear  Sir: 

In  reply  to  your  questions  of  August  20th,  I  wish  to  make  the  fol- 
lowing brief  statement: 

The  German  Accident  Insurance  System,  in  my  opinion,  is  with-  System 

Without  a 
out  a  flaw,  and  may  well  serve  as  a  model  for  other  countries  to  copy.  Flaw 

The  injured  party  is  vouchsafed  the  right  to  compensation;  he  does 
not  have  to  beg  for  it.  The  burdens  imposed  on  the  employers  are 
quite  heavy,  it  is  true,  but  having  been  borne  for  so  many  years,  have 
ceased  to  be  felt,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  are  offset  by  the  fact  that 
individual  employers  are  no  longer  liable  for  accidents.  I  am  very 
much  in  favor  of  affording  the  workmen  every  possible  legal  protec- 
tion against  the  consequences  of  sickness  and  accidents,  as  called  for 
by  the  mandates  of  common  humanity.  This  necessitates  compulsory 
insurance,  legally  regulated. 

To  abrogate  our  social  legislation  is  something  no  one  would  con- 
template for  a  single  moment. 

The  workers  are  better  satisfied  than  ever  before.    The  workmen's  ^lorkers 

Better 
societies  or  trade  unions  have  nothing  to  do  with  our  social  legislation,  satisfied 

The  workmen's  contribution  to  the  Sick  Funds,  which  is  now  two- 
thirds  and  is  to  become  one-half,  is  substantial  and  presumably  some- 
what conducive  to  diminishing  simulation.  In  an  accident  insurance  sys- 
tem eliminating  the  sick  funds,  a  small  contribution  of  the  workmen, 
possibly  25  per  cent,  might  commend  itself.  The  employer  of  agri- 
cultural-labor should  be  made  a  part  of  the  accident  insurance  system. 

Yours  respectfully, 
(Signed)       Franz  Bengsch. 
Chairman    East   German    Inland    Navigation    Employers'    Association. 


298 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Stettin,  August  23,  1910. 


Has  Stood 
the  Test 


Better  Ele- 
ment Among' 
"Workers  Ap- 
preciate 
System 


Simulation 
Reduced  by 
Waiting 
Time 


Mb.  Ferd.  C.  Schwedtman, 

Hotel  Bristol,  Berlin. 

Dear  Sir:  • 

In  reply  to  the  questions  asked  of  me  in  your  favor  of  the  20th 
Inst,  with  reference  to  German  Accident  Insurance,  I  beg  to  say  the 
following: 

Questions  1,  2  and  3  can  be  answered  by  stating  that  the  German 
Accident  Insurance  System  has  now  operated  in  an  entirely  satis- 
factory manner  for  a  period  of  25  years.  Such  changes  as  have 
proven  desirable  will  be  effected  by  the  new  Imperial  insurance  regula- 
tions; 

(4)  Even  if  it  were  possible  to  abrogate  all  German  accident  laws 
we  would  not  be  in  favor  of  such  action.  I  would  not  know  what  bet- 
ter to  put  in  their  place. 

(5)  Compulsory  insurance  is  necessary  for  the  successful  opera- 
tion of  the  system. 

(6)  The  accident  insurance  system  gives  the  German  workman  a 
greater  feeling  of  security  with  regard  to  his  economic  existence.  It 
is  only  the  better  element  among  the  workmen,  however,  that  is 
satisfied  and  appreciates  the  benefits  the  system  affords  them. 

(7)  The  accident  insurance  law  presumably  did  not  appreciably 
influence  the  workmen's  organizations. 

(8)  The  social  effects  of  accident  insurance  on  the  German  work- 
men have  been  extremely  beneficial.  Injured  workmen  no  longer  be- 
come a  burden  on  the  communities  or  to  the  poorhouses. 

(9)  The  so-called  waiting  time  (13  weeks)  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary, especially  with  regard  to  minor  injuries.  It  undoubtedly  dimin- 
ishes simulation.     Slight  injuries  which,  as  a  rule  only  carry  a  tem- 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES        299 

porary  compensation  with  them,  are  on  a  par  with  cases  of  slight  sick-  Temporary 

Compensa- 
ness.     It  should  be  rendered  possible  to  satisfy  the  claims  to  compen-  tion  for 

sation  growing  out  of  such  injuries  by  granting  a  temporary  allow-  injuries 
ance  for  a  certain  period  of  time,  so  that  the  injured  party  may  adapt 
himself  to  his  condition. 

It  is  exactly  the  small  pensions  paid  for  the  loss  of  minor  parts 
which  induce  the  workmen  to  exaggerate  the  consequences  of  acci- 
dents and  to  practice  simulation, 

(10)  A  large  or  direct  contribution  of  the  workmen  to  the  cost 
of  accident  insurance  would  not  be  advisable. 

(11)  Agricultural  workers  should  also  be  subject  to  compulsory 
insurance,  were  it  only  because  of  the  constant  changes  from  agri- 
cultural to  industrial  employment  and  vice  versa. 

(12)  The  above  views  are  presumably  shared  by  the  majority  of 
German  employers. 

Yours  respectfully, 

(Signed)    W.    Jahn. 
Chairman   of   the   Board   of  Directors   of  the   Employers'   Association 
for  the  Brick  Industry. 


Stuttgart,   September  1,  1910. 

Mr.  F.  C.  Schwedtman, 

Dear  Sir: 

Answering  your  favor  of  the  20th  ult.,  which  reached  me  on  the  System's 

Worth 
28th,  I  take  great  pleasure  in  complying  with  your  request,  as  it  is  proven 

well  that  an  accident  insurance  system  which  has  so  signally  proven 

its  worth,  should  be  copied  by  other  nations. 

The  enclosed  statement  which  I  sent  to  Professor  Manes  of  Berlin, 
under  the  date  of  the  16th  ult.,  covers  the  subject  in  a  general  way, 
and  I  shall,  therefore,  confine  myself  to  answering  your  various  ques- 
tions, as  follows: 

(1)  Do  you  like  the  German  Accident  Insurance  System  in  its 
present  form? 


300 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND   RELIEF 


A  Question 
of  Terms 


"Booze"  Pen- 
sions Un- 
desirable 


System  Pro- 
tects Em- 
ploye of 
Large  and 
Small  Con- 
cern Alike 


Class  Hatred 
Done  Away 
With 


I  approve  of  it  in  all  its  essential  points. 

(2)  What  changes  would  you  suggest? 

The  term  "Renten"  (pensions)  is  a  misnomer  and  should  be 
eliminated.  It  gives  injured  workmen  the  impression  that  they  will 
get  something  all  their  lives,  whereas  merely  a  temporary  allowance 
extending  over  a  limited  period  of  time — a  few  mojj^ths  or,  at  most,  a 
few  years — may  be  involved.  Another  thing  which  should  be  abolished 
is  the  so-called  "bagatelle"  or  "booze"  pension  for  slight  physical  in- 
juries, such  as  the  loss  of  a  few  finger  joints,  weak  arms  or  legs, 
minor  amputations,  etc.,  impairing  a  man's  earning  capacity  less 
than  20  per  cent.  A  real  permanent  economic  damage  is  not 
caused  by  such  injuries  and  the  allowance,  if  any,  should  be  stopped 
after  a  few  years'  time.  This  is  doubly  necessary  and  advisable,  as 
otherwise  dissatisfaction  is  spread  and  a  premium  put  on  carelessness, 
which,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  is  the  cause  of  such  accidents. 

Generally  speaking,  the  German  system  has  proven  highly  satis- 
factory both  from  a  humane  and  a  business  point  of  view.  There  is 
just  one  feature  connected  with  it  which  can  be  justly  objected  to, 
and  that  is  the  unnecessary  accumulation  of  enormous  reserve  funds 
as  required  by  the  law. 

I  would  be  anything  but  in  favor  of  abrogating  the  German  acci- 
dent insurance  laws.  Compulsory  insurance  is  absolutely  necessary 
as  it  protects  not  only  the  man  who  is  working  for  a  large  and  pros- 
perous concern,  but  also  the  employe  of  factories  operated  on  a  limit- 
ed amount  of  capital,  who  in  times  gone  by  had  to  go  to  the  poor- 
house  if  injured  by  an  accident. 

It  can  hardly  be  asserted  that  accident  insurance  has  made  Ger- 
man workingmen  better  satisfied;  the  small  minority  who  have  been 
injured  by  accidents  and  enjoy  the  benefits  of  the  system,  of  course, 
appreciate  its  advantages.  The  great  mass  of  the  German  working- 
men,  at  best,  are  gratified  at  the  thought  that  their  fellow-workers 
who  have  been  injured  by  accidents,  but  not  killed,  are  taken  good 
care  of  and  that  the  families  of  the  others  do  not  have  to  suffer  want. 
The    bitter    feelings    and    downright    hatred    which    formerly    existed 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES       301 

between   employer   and   employe   and   were  fanned   by   suits   for    dam-  Trade  Unions 

ages,  have  disappeared  entirely,  and  this  alone  must  be  considered  a   c,^       *t 

Strengtnenea 

splendid  achievement  of  the  German  Accident  Insurance  System.  The 
German  Accident  Compensation  Insurance  System  has  not  strength- 
ened trade  unions  in  any  way,  as  the  workingmen  do  not  take  any 
active  part  in  the  operation  of  the  system,  except  by  acting  as  co- 
adjutators  in  the  Tribunals  of  Arbitration  and  the  Imperial  Insurance 
Office.  The  Employers'  Associations  govern  themselves  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Imperial  Insurance  Office  and  resent  any  attempt  on 
the  part  of  the  workingmen  or  the  authorities  to  interfere  in  the 
management  of  their  affairs.  A  striking  example  of  this  attitude  is 
found   in  the   unanimity   of  opinion   with   which   both   industrial   and 

agricultural  employers  are  opposing  the  new  Imperial  Insurance  Regu-  Employers' 

Associations 
lations.     Neither   is   it   so   much   the   great  mass   of  the  workingmen  Do  Not  Want 

Interference 
which  desires  to  break  down  the  self-governing  barrier  of  the  Em- 
ployers' Associations,  but  only  the  labor  leaders  who  do  not  belong  to 
the  working  class,  and  are  actuated  by  selfish  motives  in  their  efforts 
to  take  a  part  in  the  management  of  the  Employers'  Associations. 
Their  co-operation,  unnecessary  and  uncalled  for  as  it  is,  may  be 
readily  dispensed  with  without  working  any  harm  to  the  workingmen 
themselves. 

The  social  consequences  of  the  German  Accident  Insurance  Sys-   German 

Workers 
tern  are  of  the  utmost  importance.    In  the  first  place,  there  is  no  longer  Given  a  Feel- 

i Ti fir  of  ^opur— 

any   danger   of  a   seriously  injured  workingman   becoming   absolutely  jt     ^nd  of 

destitute  and  having  to  eat  the  degrading  bread  of  the  poor-house  as  Confidence  in 

Their  Em- 
a  disabled  soldier  of  trade  or  industry.     Confidence  in  his  employer  ployer 

and  in  the  industry  for  which  he  works  is  awakened  and  strengthened 

in  the  workingman,  who  knows  that  everything  humanly  possible  is 

being  done  for  his  protection  and  personal  welfare.     His  is  the  mental 

attitude  of  the  soldier  who  knows  that  he  is  fighting  under  a  capable 

leader  and  who  stands  ready  to  go  through  fire  and  water  if  necessary. 

It  is  a  very  important  feature  of  the  German  Accident  Insurance 

System  that  the  compensation  during  the  first  thirteen  weeks  is  taken 

out  of  the  Sick  Fund.  In  Germany  all  accidents,  even  those  caused  by 


302 


ACCIDENT    PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 


Lawsuits 

Made 

Impossible 


Workers' 

Contribution 

Offset 


carelessness  on  the  part  of  the  workingmen,  give  the  latter  a  right 
to  compensation.  If  this  were  not  the  case,  there  would  be  no  end  of 
lawsuits  to  determine  and  fix  the  responsibility  for  the  accident.  In 
creating  the  German  Accident  Insurance  System  it  was  expressly  pro- 
vided that  all  accidents  (with  the  single  exception  of  those  caused  in- 
tentionally) were  to  be  compensated  for  out  of  the  Sick  Funds  during 
the  first  thirteen  weeks.  This  provision  was  not  a  haphazard  clause^ 
but  a  historically  well  conceived  and  fundamental  part  of  the  German 
system,  without  which  accident  compensation  would  never  have  become 
an  accomplished  fact.  The  charge  constantly  reiterated  by  the  critics 
of  the  system  that  the  workingmen  share  the  cost  of  the  insurance 
by  contributing  to  the  Sick  Fund  from  which  the  compensation  is 
taken  during  the  first  thirteen  weeks  after  the  accident,  is  in  reality 
without  a  foundation;  for  this  contribution  is  more  than  offset  by  the 
fact  that  all  accidents,  even  those  caused  by  the  workingman's  own 
carelessness,  for  which  the  employers  could  not  reasonably  be  ex- 
pected to  pay  damages  otherwise,  are  compensated.  Indeed,  financially 
the  employers  would  be  better  off  if  they  had  to  pay  the  entire  cost  of 
the  insurance  but  did  not  have  to  pay  for  accidents  due  to  the  work- 
ingmen's  own  fault.  For  practical  reasons,  however,  and  principally 
with  the  view  of  avoiding  lawsuits  and  unpleasant  controversies  be- 
tween employers  and  employes  which  would  have  continued  to  arise 
from  the  question  as  to  the  responsibility  for  the  accident,  it  was 
wisely  decided  to  make  the  law  apply  to  practically  all  accidents. 
Simulation  presumably  is  not  affected  by  the  Sick  Fund  contribution,  as 
those  who  want  to  simulate  will  do  so  anyway  whether  the  money 
they  get  comes  out  of  the  Sick  Fund  or  the  Accident  Fund. 

If  employers  desire  to  keep  the  self-governing  feature  of  their 
associations  intact,  they  are  not  justified  in  letting  the  workingmen 
contribute  to  their  funds  in  any  way  except  as  is  done  at  present. 

It  is  economically  desirable  for  the  industrial  employer  to  have 
agriculture  form  a  part  of  a  national  accident  insurance  system.  The 
largest  share  of  the  products  of  industry  is  consumed  by  the  rural 
population  whose  purchasing  power  is  preserved  and  strengthened  by 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES      303 

compensating     the     agricultural     workers     for     injuries     caused     by 

accidents. 

A  large  number  of  other  employers  share  my  opinion  on  the  above 

subject. 

I  am  indebted  for  your  kind  offer  to  furnish  me  any  information   Familiar  with 

American 
I  might  require  concerning  workingmen's  conditions  in  America;  you   Accident 

will  note  from  pages  2,  5  and  6  of  the  enclosed  "Guide  Book  for  the   l"^"''^"^® 

Prevention  of  Accidents"  that  I  am  already  slightly  familiar  with  the 

subject  of  accident  insurance  in  the  United  States. 

Yours  respectfully, 

(Signed)   Arthur  Faber, 

Chairman    of    the    German    Southwestern    Woodworkers'    Employers' 

Association. 


Berlix,  August  30,  1910. 

Mr.  F.  C.  Schwedtmax, 

Dear  Sir: 

Replying  to  your  favor  of  the  20th  inst.,  I  beg  to  answer  your 
various  questions  as  follows: 

(1)  Do  you  like  the  German  Accident  Insurance  System  in  its 
present  form? 

The  German  manufacturers  have  adapted  themselves  to  the  pres- 
ent form  of  accident  insurance  and  are  well  satisfied  with  it,  so  much 
so  that  they  would  not  want  to  be  without  it. 

(2)  What  changes  would  you  suggest? 


German 


I    cannot    suggest    any    radical    changes    in    the    features    of   the  Manufactur- 
ers  Well 
system.  Satisfied 

(3)  Has  the  German  system  proven  satisfactory  both  from  a  busi- 
ness and  a  humane  point  of  view? 

Yes.  The  private  insurance  companies  hardly  ever  paid  com- 
pensation unless  a  lawsuit  establishing  their  liability  was  instituted. 


304 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Bitterness  of 

Feeling 

Eliminated 


Justice 
Established 


Old  Employ- 
ers' Liability 
Laws  a  Mis- 
take 


Workers  Feel 
Secure  in 
Their  Rights 


This  is  now  a  thing  of  the  past,  as  is  also  the  bitterness  of  feeling 
which  used  to  take  possession  of  workmen  who  were  not  compensated 
for  their  injuries.  The  people  now  know  what  they  are  entitled  to 
and  what  they  will  get,  and  they  also  know  that  they  will  get  it  from 
an  organization  which  will  pass  judgment  without  bias  or  prejudice. 
The  Tribunals  of  Arbitration  and  the  Imperial  Insurance  Office,  to 
which  they  may  appeal,  are  a  guarantee  to  them  that  they  will  get 
justice  in  all  cases. 

(4)  If  it  were  possible  to  cancel  all  German  compensation  laws, 
would  you  advise  such  a  proceeding? 

Under  no  circumstances  would  I  advise  making  the  least  attempt 
at  anything  of  this  kind.  To  go  back  to  the  conditions  of  employers' 
liability  laws  which  formerly  prevailed  would  be  more  than  a  mis- 
fortune and  full  of  social  dangers. 

(5)  Is  compulsory  insurance  absolutely  necessary  in  your  opinion 
for  the  success  of  a  national  system? 

Of  course,  what  is  fair  to  one  is  fair  to  another.  The  burdens 
imposed  by  the  law  must  fall  on  all  manufacturers  alike;  to  dis- 
criminate would  mean  that  one  manufacturer  will  find  it  easier  and 
the  other  one  harder  to  hold  his  own  in  competition. 

(6)  Is  the  German  workingman  better  satisfied  owing  to  the  acci- 
dent insurance  system? 

The  workmen  are  never  satisfied;  they  are  always  trying  to  get 
more.  That  is  human  nature.  At  any  rate,  if  they  are  dissatisfied 
with  the  compensation  given  to  them,  their  anger  is  no  longer  directed 
against  their  employer  but  against  those  who  have  fixed  the  com- 
pensation. On  the  whole,  it  has  been  my  experience  that  since  the 
adoption  of  the  accident  insurance  law  the  workman  banks  on  his 
right  to  compensation  just  the  same  as  he  does  on  any  other  right 
given  to  him  by  the  state. 

(7)  Did  the  accident  insurance  system  strengthen  or  diminish 
trade  unions? 

I  do  not  believe  that  the  system  has  affected  trade  unions  one 
way  or  the  other.     If  the  accident  insurance  law  did  not  exist  and  if 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES      305 

the  former  method  of  dealing  with  the  results  of  accidents  were  still 
in  vogue,  the  growth  of  trade  unions  would  undoubtedly  have  been 
greatly  accelerated. 

(8)  What  is  the  social  result  of  the  German  Accident  Compensa- 
tion  Insurance  and  Accident  Prevention   System? 

My   answer   to   this   is   already   partly   contained   in  my  previous  Like  Having 
remarks.     The  workman  knows  that  he  is  protected    (at  least  to  a  insured 
certain  extent)    against   the  consequences   of  accidents,   and,   like  the 
man  whose  house  is  insured,  he  does  not  worry  but  sleeps  calmly,  with 
the  certainty  that  if  he  should  meet  with  an  accident  his  family  will 
not  suffer  want. 

(9)  Is  the  workman's  contribution  to  the  accident  insurance  bene- 
fits (through  the  compensation  taken  out  of  the  Sick  Fund  during  the 
first  thirteen  weeks)   of  much  importance? 

The   Employers'   Associations   frequently  begin   to   look  after   in-    workers' 

jured  men  even  before  the  expiration  of  the  first  thirteen  weeks  if  Contribution 

Negligible 

they  think  that  in  this  way  a  cure  will  be  more  quickly  effected  than  Quantity 
otherwise.     This  alone  proves  that  the  workman's  contribution  is  not 
considered  of  prime  importance  by  the  employers.     This  contribution 
during  the  first  thirteen  weeks  does  not  amount  to  a     great  deal  at 
best,  and  is  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  benefits  as  a  whole. 

(10)  Has  simulation  been  diminished? 

By  no  means.     Simulation   will   continue  to   exist  as  heretofore,  j^q  Remedy 
no  matter  whether  the  workmen  contribute  to  the  cost  of  the  insur-     °^     ^™"  *' 

tion 

ance  or  not.  The  man  who  simulates  does  not  stop  to  ask  himself 
whether,  by  doing  so,  he  hurts  his  fellow  workers'  interests  or  not. 
All  he  cares  about  is  to  get  all  he  can  for  himself,  regardless  of  any- 
body else. 

(11)  Would  you  advise  increasing  the  workmen's  contribution  or 
would  you  eliminate  it  altogether? 

Neither  I  nor  any  of  the  other  manufacturers  I  know  attach  prime 
importance  to  the  workmen's  contribution.  By  letting  the  workmen 
increase  their  contribution,  you  give  them  the  right  to  have  their  say 
in  the  management  of  the  Employers'  Association.     The  present  sue- 


506 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Workers' 
Voice  in 
Management 
Undesirable 


Agriculture 
Should  be  a 
Part  of 
System 


cess  of  these  associations  is  based  upon  their  not  having  to  deal 
directly  with  the  workmen.  The  latter  are  represented  in  the  Court 
of  Arbitration  and  in  the  Tribunal  of  the  Imperial  Insurance  Office, 
and  have  no  legal  fees  to  pay,  so  that  their  rights  are  fully  protected, 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Employers'  Associations  are  absolutely 
unhampered  and,  therefore,  in  a  position  to  produce  splendid  results. 
If  the  workmen  had  a  voice  in  the  management  of  the  Employers' 
Associations  disputes  and  differences  of  opinion  would  never  cease. 
That  is  the  reason  why  I  attach  little  value  to  the  workmen's  con- 
tribution. 

(12)  Is  it  of  any  interest  to  industrial  employers  to  have  agricul- 
ture share  in  a  national  accident  insurance  system? 

In  Germany  the  interests  of  agriculture  and  industry,  unfortun- 
ately, are  widely  divergent  and  the  course  taken  by  the  representa- 
tives of  agriculture  gives  us  just  cause  for  complaint.  Obligations 
similar  to  those  imposed  on  the  industrial  interests  of  a  country 
should  certainly  be  placed  upon  agriculture.  The  more  uniformly  such 
a  system  operates,  the  greater  is  its  success, 

(13)  Do  other  employers  share  your  opinion  on  the  above  sub- 
ject to  any  great  extent? 

In  our  association  there  is  but  one  opinion  concerning  the  above 
questions.  I  can  say,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  my  fellow- 
members  will  readily  endorse  the  remarks  made  by  me  if  you  ask  them 
their  opinion. 

Yours  truly. 


(Signed)  E.  Blum, 


Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Northeastern  Iron  and  Steel 
Employers'  Association. 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES      307 


Frankfort-on-the-Main,  September  7,  1910. 

Mr.  Ferdinand  C.  Schwedtman, 
Dear  Sir: 

Having  just  returned  from  a  several  weeks'  trip,  I  beg  to  reply- 
as  follows  to  the  questions  asked  in  your  favor  of  the  20th  ult. 

The  German  Accident  Insurance  System  hits  the  nail  squarely  on  Hits  the  Nail 
the  head  in  its  fundamental  principles,  which  sentiment,  I  am  con-  fh"  Head  *^" 
vinced,  is  shared  by  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  German  em- 
ployers who  do  not  want  any  change  beyond  eliminating  the  clause  com- 
pelling the  Employers'  Associations  to  accumulate  excessive  reserve 
funds.  This  clause  which  is  contained  in  section  34  of  the  Industrial 
Accident  Insurance  Law  of  June  30,  1900,  was  unanimously  protested 
against  by  the  League  of  German  Employers'  Associations  in  its  yearly 
convention,  and  the  present  bill  for  the  New  Imperial  Insurance  Regu- 
lations contemplates  a  substantial  reduction  of  the  reserve  fund. 

The  question  whether  the  German  system  has  proven  satisfactory 
from  a  business  as  well  as  from  a  humane  point  of  view  can  be  un- 
reservedly answered  in  the  affirmative.  From  the  humane  stand- 
point there  cannot  be  any  doubt  that  a  system  which  insures  work- 
men against  the  consequences  of  industrial  accidents  is  a  necessity, 

for  accidents  quite  unexpectedly  deprive  the  workman  of  his  earning 

Urg-ent  Need 

capacity  and  the  family  of  its  bread  winner.     Of  all  forms  of  insur-  of  Accident 

Insurance 

ance,  this,  from  a  humane  point  of  view,  is  therefore  the  most  urgent, 

and  the  German  Accident  Insurance  System  ha.s  solved  the  problem 
in  a  thoroughly  satisfactory  manner.  Withal,  German  accident  insur- 
ance legislation  has  also  benefited  German  employers  to  an  appreciable 
extent.  Before  the  accident  insurance  system  was  establshied  25  years 
ago,  the  so-called  Imperial  Liability  Law  of  1871  compelled  the  em- 
ployer to  compensate  workmen  injured  by  accidents  which  occurred  in 
his  establishment  and  for  which  he  himself  or  his  authorized  officers 


308 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 


Private 

Accident 

Insurance 

Expensive 

and 

Inefficient 


Value  of 

Employers' 

Associations 


Uniform 

Distribution 

of  Burden 

Prevents 

Interference 

with 

Competition 


or  superintendents  were  to  blame.  At  that  time  the  employer  was 
obliged,  therefore,  in  order  to  protect  himself  against  the  claims  for 
liability  arising  from  such  accidents,  to  take  out  liability  insurance 
in  private  insurance  companies,  the  premium  on  which  was  very  high. 
If  a  workman  was  injured  and  the  insurance  company  called  upon 
for  damages,  it  frequently  became  necessary  to  reso||t  to  legal  measures 
to  compel  the  company  to  fulfill  its  obligations,  and  the  injured  party 
was  left  without  compensation  of  any  kind  for  a  long  time.  Now,  all 
this  has  been  changed  by  our  accident  compensation  insurance  sys- 
tem, which  grants  the  workman  the  right  to  collect  damages  from  the 
Employers'  Association  in  connection  with  all  accidents,  except  those 
caused  intentionally.  On  the  other  hand,  the  workman  is  not  en- 
titled to  obtain  damages  from  his  employer  under  any  circumstances 
except  where  the  employer  caused  the  accident  intentionally.  Of 
course  this  system  meant  a  considerable  extra  burden  for  the  employ- 
ers, who  have  to  raise  the  entire  cost  of  accident  insurance  themselves 
except  for  the  thirteen  weeks  following  the  accident;  this  burden,  gen- 
erally speaking,  is  borne  cheerfully  and  willingly  by  the  German  em- 
ployers in  consideration  of  the  great  benefits  which  the  system  af- 
fords to  their  workmen  and  of  the  necessity  of  such  insurance  from  a 
humane  standpoint.  The  chief  value  of  German  accident  insurance 
legislation  lies  in  the  creation  of  so-called  Employers'  Associations 
who  have  to  bear  the  burden  of  accident  insurance.  These  Associa- 
tions are  self-governed  bodies  and  organized  according  to  industries. 
They  have  furnished  the  employers  a  motive  to  form  large  organiza- 
tions which  have  proven  valuable,  not  only  from  an  economic  point  of 
view,  but  also  as  a  means  of  counterbalancing  the  trade  unions. 

To  abolish  the  legal  structure  on  which  accident  insurance  rests 
is  not  to  be  thought  of.  By  far  the  great  majority  of  the  German  em- 
ployers would  be  emphatically  opposed  to  such  a  course,  and,  so  far  as 
I  know,  no  one  has  ever  made  a  suggestion  to  that  end.  Workmen's 
insurance — this  statement,  too,  I  make  without  the  slightest  fear  of 
contradiction — is  conceivable  only  as  compulsory  insurance,  which  dis- 
tributes the  burden  uniformly  among  all  employers  and  does  not  in- 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES      309 

terfere  with  competition.    Whether  accident  insurance  or  any  of  the  Dissatisfac- 
tion  Pre- 
other  forms  of  governmental  insurance  existing  in  Germany  has  made  vented 

-the  workmen  better  satisfied  is  a  subject  concerning  which  opinion  is 

divided.     In  view  of  the  beneficial  workings  of  our  insurance  laws  and 

particularly  of  our  accident  insurance  system  with  its  high  rates  of 

compensation,  the  assumption  that  greater  satisfaction  must  have  been 

the  result  seems  justified;   at  any  rate  it  may  be  safely  asserted  that 

if  this  workmen's  insurance  had  not  been  adopted  dissatisfaction  would 

have  reached  much  greater  proportions. 

In   like  manner  it  may  be  claimed  that  the  accident   insurance   Trade 
laws,     far     from     strengthening    the    workmen's   organizations,   have  influence 
neutralized  their  influences.  Neutralized 

The  fact  that  our  governmental  accident  insurance  system  has 
conferred  great  benefits  on  the  workmen  has  been  duly  em- 
phasized, but  it  should  also  be  pointed  out  that  both  the  rates  and  the 
period  of  compensation  are  much  more  liberal  in  connection  with  this  compensation 

T  iihpi*fil 

form  of  insurance  than  they  are  for  invalidity  or  sick  insurance.  This 
is  not  only  justified  by  the  fact,  that,  as  above  stated,  industrial  ac- 
cidents result  in  a  sudden  unforeseen  state  of  distress,  but  also  because 
the  workman  in  many  cases,  in  view  of  his  claims  to  compensation 
against  the  Employers'  Association,  is  no  longer  able  to  collect  from 
his  employer  the  damages  to  which  he  was  formerly  entitled  by  virtue 
of  the  liability  law  if  his  employer  or  fellow-workers  were  to  blame 
for  the  accident. 

The  workmen's  contribution  to  the  compensation  paid  for  the  con- 
sequences of  accidents,  based  on  the  fact  that  the  compensation  is 
taken  out  of  the  Sick  Funds  during  the  first  thirteen  weeks  after  the 
accident,  is  of  the  utmost  importance.  At  any  rate,  the  great  majority 
of  the  German  employers  are  averse  to  any  change  in  the  present 
system,  even  though  a  few  have  advocated  that  the  Employers'  As-  Averse  to 
sociations  pay  an  ciaims  lor  damages  right  from  the  start,  thus  throw-  gygtem 
ing  the  entire  burden  of  this  insurance  on  the  employers'  shoulders,  as 
the  Employers'  Associations  are  financed  entirely  by  their  members. 


310  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

The  simulation  frequently  to  be  observed  on  the  part  of  workmen 
injured  b3'  accidents  is  scarcely  diminished  by  the  practice  of  pay- 
ing the  compensation  out  of  the  Sick  Funds  during  the  first  13  weeks, 
as  the  injured  parties  presumably  are  hardly  conscious  of  the  fact 
that  by  contributing  to  the  Sick  Fund  they  also  raise  part  of  the  cost 
of  accident  insurance.  Furthermore,  simulation,  as  a  rule,  is  only 
met  with  after  the  treatment  or  cure  is  well  under  way. 

The  question  whether  the  workman's  contribution  to  the  cost  of 

accident  insurance  should  be  increased  or  abolished  entirely  by  letting 

Workers'         ^^®  Employers'  Associations  take  charge  right  after  the  accident  oc- 

Contribution  j     solely  and  simply  a  question  of  financial  taxation,  and  the 

Satisfactory  "^ 

great  majority  of  the  German  employers  would  take  the  stand  that  no 
change  be  made  in  the  present  system  in  this  respect  either. 

That  governmental  accident  compensation  insurance  is  also  ap- 
plied to  agricultural  workers  is  of  the  utmost  importance  both  to  in- 
dustrial and  to  agricultural  employers.  It  is  not  only  right  and  proper 
that  agricultural  workers  should  share  the  benefits  enjoyed  by  those 
engaged  in  industrial  occupations,  but  this  is  also  in  the  interests  of 
the  employers  of  farm  help  in  that  it  checks  the  so-called  land-flight 
Land-Flight   ^^^  counteracts  the  scarcity  of  labor  in  the  country  districts.    Finally, 

Checked  by    ^j^^  industrial  employer  is  likewise  benefited,  since  in  many  instances 
Applying 

System  to       agricultural   and   industrial   plants  are   run   in   connection   with  each 
Agriculture 

other  and  the  Industrial  Employers'  Associations  would  have  to  pay 

compensation  for  many  accidents  which  can  now  be  charged  to  the 
Agricultural  Employers'  Associations. 

The  above  views  are  substantially  those  of  an  overwhelming  ma- 
jority of  German  employers. 

Yours  truly, 

(Signed)    F.  Hexrich 
Chairman  of  the  Brewers'  and  Maltsters'  Association. 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES      311 

Berlix,  August  23,  1910. 

Mb.  Feedixand  C.  Schwedtman, 

Vice-President   of   the   National    Association   of   Manufacturers, 
Hotel  Bristol. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  duly  received  your  favor  of  the  20th  inst.  and  beg  to  answer  the 
questions  asked  by  you  therein  as  follows: 

(1)  Do  you  like  the  German  Accident  Insurance  System  in  its 
present  form?    Yes,  I  like  it  very  well  indeed. 

(2)  What  changes  would  you  suggest?     None. 

(3)  Has  the  German  system  proven  satisfactory  from  a  business 
as  well  as  from  a  humane  point  of  view?  It  has  proven  satisfactory 
from  both  standpoints. 

(4)  If  all  the  German  accident  laws  could  be  cancelled,  would 
you  advise  such  a  course?  No,  not  under  any  circumstances. 

(5)  Is  general  insurance  compulsion  absolutely  necessary  in 
your  opinion  to  insure  the  success  of  a  national  system?  Yes,  com- 
pulsory insurance  is  absolutely  necessary. 

(6)  Is  the  German   workman  better  satisfied  in  consequence  of 

Worker 
accident  insurance?    Yes,  decidedly,  because  he  knows  that  he  and  his  Knows  He 

family  will  be  taken  care  of  it  he  meets  with  an  accident. 

(7)  Has  the  accident  insurance  system  strengthened  or  weak 
ened  workmen's  associations  (trade  unions)  ?  I  am  unable  to  form 
an  opinion  on  this  point. 

(8)  What  is  the  social  consequence  (among  the  workmen)  of 
the  German  Accident  Insurance  System?  The  social  conditions  of  the 
workmen  have  improved. 

(9)  Is  the  workman's  contribution  to  the  cost  of  accident  insur- 
ance (on  account  of  the  compensation  being  taken  out  of  the  Sick 
Fund  during  the  first  13  weeks)   of  great  importance?     Yes,  because 


312 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Changes 
Inadvisable 


Recommends 
System   to 
Other 
Countries 


the  workman   receives   financial   support   immediately  after   the   acci- 
dent happens. 

(10)  Has  simulation  been  decreased  thereby?  Yes,  because  the 
Sick  Fund  is  supervised  conscientiously  by  the  workers. 

(11)  Do  you  advise  a  larger  contribution  on  the  part  of  the 
workmen  or  do  you  advise  against  the  workmen'^  contribution  en- 
tirely?   My  advice  is  to  leave  things  as  they  are. 

(12)  Is  the  farmer's  share  in  a  national  accident  insurance  sys- 
tem of  interest  to  the  industrial  employer?    Yes. 

(13)  Is  your  opinion  on  the  above  points  shared  by  many  other 
employers?    Yes. 

I  wish  to  also  add  that  all  civilized  countries  throughout  the 
world  should  endeavor  to  adopt  accident  compensation  by  insurance  ac- 
cording to  the  German  model  so  that  the  workmen  may  obtain  an  un- 
disputed right  to  the  payment  of  compensation  when  they  meet  with 
accidents  in  the  course  of  their  work. 

Yours  respectfully, 

(Signed)   Fraxz  Pest, 
Chairman  of  the  North  German  Metal  Trades'  Employers'  Association. 


ScHWELM,  September  14,  1910. 


Mr.  F.  C.  Schwedtman, 
Dear  Sir: 


Employers 
Want  to 
Continue 
System 


It  was  impossible  for  me  to  reply  ere  this  to  your  favor  of  the 
20th  ult.,  and  I  now  beg  to  answer  your  various  questions  as  follows: 

The  German  Accident  Insurance  System,  based  as  it  is  on  self- 
governing  Employers'  Associations,  has  stood  the  test  of  time,  and 
there  is  no  desire  on  the  part  of  the  employers  to  do  away  with 
it,  even  if  such  a  thing  were  possible.  German  employers  have  will- 
ingly assumed  the  financial  burden  laid  upon  them  by  the  system  and 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES      313 

cheerfully  perform  the  work  it  necessitates.  Full  justice  is  guaran- 
teed to  the  workmen  by  the  German  Compensation  Insurance  System, 
and  the  verdicts  of  the  higher  tribunals  in  cases  that  have  been  ap- 
pealed prove  the  efficiency  of  the  Employers'  Associations  and  the  fair- 
ness of  their  decisions.  If  an  entirely  new  accident  insurance  system 
were  planned,  it  is  a  question  in  my  mind  whether  it  would  not  be 
best  to  establish  a  certain  limit  beyond  which  the  obligation  to  com- 
pensate would  cease  on  the  part  of  the  employers.  When  the  German 
Accident  Insurance  System  was  adopted,  employers  generally  were 
under  the  impression  that  accidents  causing  minor  injuries  (such  as 
the  loss  of  a  finger-joint,  stiff  finger  joints,  slight  amputations,  etc.)    -^^  -^eed.  of 

were  not  to  result  in  the  allowance  of  a  pension.     It  was  well  known  Compensat- 
ing for  Minor 

as  far  back  as  25  years  ago,  and  our  experience  since  that  time  has  Accidents 
confirmed  it,  that  slight  bodily  injuries  do  not  permanently  impair 
a  workman's  earning  capacity,  but  cease  to  handicap  him  after  a  few 
years'  time  when  he  has  become  used  to  them.  The  allowance  of 
small  pensions  (10,  15  and  20  per  cent.)  in  such  cases  was  chiefly 
due  to  the  manner  in  which  the  law  was  at  first  interpreted  by  the 
Imperial  Insurance  Office,  but  of  late  years  this  tribunal  has  taken 
the  view  that  adaptation  and  familiarization  play  an  important  part 
in  relieving  the  consequences  of  minor  injuries  and  furnish  the  basis 
for  eventually  withdrawing  or  at  least  reducing  the  pension.  If  a 
country,  therefore,  proceeds  to  pass  laws  creating  an  accident  insur- 
ance system,  it  should  be  carefully  considered  right  at  the  start 
whether  it  would  not  be  well  to  exclude  from  its  benefits  any  and  all 
accidents  impairing  the  workmen's  earning  capacity  less  than  possibly 
20  per  cent. 

If  accident  insurance  is  to  be  regulated  by  law,  compulsory  insur- 
ance  of   all    persons    employed    commends    itself   as   the   best   course  compulsory 
to  adopt.     In  this  connection   I  wish  to  refer  to  the  proceedings  of  Recommended 
the  various   International  Workmen's   Insurance   Congresses,   particu- 
larly the  one  held  in  Rome. 

It  would  be  diflicult  to  answer  the  question  whether  accident  com- 
pensation has  resulted  in  making  German  workmen  better  satisfied;  it 


314 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Workers' 
Satisfaction 
Repressed  by 
Social  Demo- 
cratic Party 


Trade  Unions 
Only    Slightly 
Affected 


No  More 

Damage 

Suits 


is  human  nature  to  be  dissatisfied  with  existing  conditions, 
and  the  agitators  among  the  workmen,  particularly  those  belonging  to 
the  Social  Democratic  Party,  see  to  it  that  whatever  satisfaction  is 
felt  by  the  workmen  does  not  appear  on  the  surface  but  is  repressed 
as  much  as  possible.  It  is  a  fact,  nevertheless,  that  workmen  and  their 
families  who  have  received  the  benefits  of  accident  insurance,  have  ex- 
pressed their  appreciation  and  gratitude  in  no  uncertain  terms.  If 
the  workmen  were  to  vote  on  the  question  whether  the  system  was 
to  be  continued  or  not,  an  overwhelming  majority  would  undoubtedly 
vote  in  the  affirmative. 

Accident  insurance  has  not  strengthened  trade  unions  to  any 
extent  worth  mentioning.  Its  only  effect  has  been  to  give  them  a  new 
subject  for  discussion  at  their  meetings  and  to  lead  to  the  creation 
of  secretaryships  for  the  special  purpose  of  protecting  the  work- 
men's interests  in  connection  with  the  accident  insurance  system. 
Financially,  too,  the  trade  unions  have  been  benefited  somewhat  by 
virtue  of  the  fact  that  the  accident  insurance  system  gives  their  in- 
jured members  a  legal  claim  to  compensation. 

The  chief  value  of  the  German  Accident  Insurance  System,  so  far 
as  the  workmen  are  concerned,  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  grants  to  them 
a  clearly  defined  right  to  compensation  if  they  meet  with  an  accident, 
thus  protecting  them  against  the  possibility  of  becoming  paupers.  Again, 
the  bitterness  of  feeling  which  resulted  from  the  lawsuits  instituted 
to  determine  whether  the  employer  or  the  workman  was  responsible 
for  the  accident,  has  become  a  thing  of  the  past.  And  even  if  the  suit 
was  decided  in  the  workman's  favor,  the  chances  were  that  he  would 
not  be  able  to  collect  his  claims  on  account  of  limited  resources  on  the 
employer's  part — quite  aside  from  the  fact  that  during  the  trial  he 
depended  on  outside  help  to  make  both  ends  meet. 

The  science  of  preventing  accidents  has  been  placed  on  a  practical 
basis  by  the  intelligent  co-operation  of  employers  and  employes,  and 
there  has  been  a  marked  decrease  in  the  number  of  accidents  and 
the  extent  to  which  workmen  have  been  injured  by  them. 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES       315 

The  workmen's  contribution  to  accident  insurance,  based  as  it  is 
on  the  practice  of  paying  the  compensation  out  of  the  Sick  Funds 
during  the  first  thirteen  weeks  succeeding  the  accident,  is  of  little  im- 
portance financially  but  affects  the  practical  workings  of  the  system.  Workmen's 

Contribution 
As  is  well  known,  the  consequences  of  the  majority  of  accidents  cease   Simplifies 

T3r*o  pt  i  PI  1 

during  the  first  thirteen  weeks,  and  the  Employers'  Associations  are,  workings  of 
therefore,  not  burdened  with  a  lot  of  work  which,  in  the  nature  of  ^^  ^"^ 
things,  would  be  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  actual  amount  of  good 
done.  Inasmuch  as  the  workmen  are  represented  to  the  same  extent 
as  the  employers  in  the  Courts  of  Arbitration  and  in  the  Tribunals  of 
Appeal  and  also  co-operate  in  an  equal  measure  in  preparing  accident 
prevention  devices,  they  should  naturally  also  contribute  something  to 
the  cost  of  accident  insurance.  Above  everything  else,  as  pointed 
out  before,  the  fact  should  be  taken  into  account  that  after  a  pension, 
no  matter  how  small,  has  once  been  granted  it  is  very  difficult,  if 
not  impossible  to  stop  or  withdraw  it,  even  if  the  conditions  which  led 
to  its  being  allowed  have  ceased  to  exist.  On  the  other  hand,  when  he 
is  being  paid  out  of  the  Sick  Fund,  the  workman  knows  that  a  tem- 
porary allowance  is  involved,  whereas,  if  the  Employers'  Association 
were  to  pay  him  a  compensation  during  the  first  thirteen  weeks  he 
would  struggle  tooth  and  nail  against  its  being  withdrawn  after  a 
while.  The  point  I  desire  to  bring  out  is  that  the  important  thing  is 
not  so  much  the  amount  contributed  to  accident  insurance  by  the 
workmen  but  the  way  in  which  this  contribution  simplifies  and  facili- 
tates the  practical  workings  of  the  system. 

It  is  of  little  consequence  to  industrial  employers  whether  agri- 
culture is  made  a  part  of  the  accident  insurance  system  or  not,  but 
agriculture  itself  is  vitally  interested  in  the  question,  since  the  num- 
ber of  agricultural  workers  deserting  the  farm  in  favor  of  the  factory 
will  continue  to  increase  as  long  as  the  benefits  of  accident  compen- 
sation are  not  enjoyed  by  those  engaged  in  agricultural  occupations. 

The  above  brief  remarks,  of  course,  do  not  attempt  to  deal  ex- 
haustively with  the  subject,  but  I  believe  that  my  views  are  shared  by 


316 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


a  majority  of  the  employers  in  my  own  line  of  industry  and  by  many 
other  manufacturers  as  well. 

Yours  truly, 

(Signed)  August  Sternenberg. 

Chairman  of  the  Linen  Manufacturers'  Association. 


Leipsic,  September  8,  1910. 


Individual 
Employers 
Relieved 
of   Responsi- 
bility 


Me.  Ferdinand  C.  Schwedtman, 

Berlin. 
My  dear  Sir: 

Your  favor  of  August  20th  was  not  answered  ere  this  as  the  under- 
signed chairman  to  whom  your  letter  was  addressed  personally  only 
returned  from  a  vacation  a  few  days  ago. 

It  is  hoped  that  the  replies  to  your  questions  will  nevertheless 
reach  you  in  time  to  be  of  some  service  to  you. 

We  have  nothing  against  the  German  Industrial  Accident  Com- 
pensation Insurance  law  in  its  present  form  and  could  hardly  sug- 
gest any  changes,  as  the  law  has  proven  very  satisfactory  both  from 
a  business  and  a  humane  point  of  view. 

The  continuance  of  the  German  Social  laws,  i.  e.  of  sick  insur- 
ance, accident  insurance,  old  age  and  disability  insurance,  is  desir- 
able under  all  circumstances,  as  it  gives  the  individual  employer  the 
assurance  that  his  workers  are  protected  in  every  way.  It  is  a 
relief  for  him  to  know  that  an  efficient  and  well  financed  organization 
will  look  after  his  sick  and  injured  workmen  and  that  he  cannot  be 
sued  for  damages  or  compensation.  To  accomplish  this  end,  compul- 
sory insurance  is  a  necessary  prerequisite. 

That  accident  compensation  insurance  has  made  the  German 
workman   better   satisfied    cannot   be   asserted.     Among   the    German 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES       317 

workers  are  many  Social  Democrats.  One  of  the  principal  doctrines 
of  the  Social  Democratic  Party  is  the  class  struggle,  which  causes 
hatred  and  envy  of  the  possessing  class  by  the  so-called  property- 
less   or  working  class.     On   that   account  the  workers  will   never  be  System 

Fatal  to 
satisfied   with   the  benefits   they   get,   as  that  would  be  fatal  to  the  Socialistic 

Doctrines 
progress  and  growth  of  the  Social  Democratic  movement,   and,  there- 
fore,   against   the   interests    of   organized    labor    and    its    leaders,    the 
latter    being    especially    bent    upon    making    the    continuation    of   the 
class  struggle  their  one  object  in  life. 

The  German  Accident  Compensation  Insurance  law  has  not  pre- 
vented the  organization  of  trade  unions.  On  the  contrary  many 
workmen's  societies  have  been  started,  possibly  not  as  the  result  of 
accident  compensation  insurance,  but  for  other  economic  reasons. 

The  social  effects  of  the  German  Accident  Compensation  Insur- 
ance and  Accident  Prevention  System  are  quite  peculiar.  Workmen 
frequently  exaggerate  the  results  of  small  injuries  in  order  to  obtain 
accident  pensions,  and  in  this  fight  for  pensions  hysterics  and  simu- 
lation unfortunately  have  come  to  play  an  important  part.  The  regu- 
lations so  far  adopted  for  the  prevention  of  accidents  are  rigidly  en-  Accident  Pre- 
vention Mea- 
forced,  and  statistics  show  that  they  have  been  fruitful  of  excellent  sures  strictly 

results,  although  the  workmen  often  dislike  using  the  protective  de- 
vices prescribed  and  at  times  become  more  than  indifferent  towards 
the  operating  hazards. 

The  workmen's  contribution  is  not  without  importance  and  comes 
to  about  10  per  cent,  of  the  total  pensions  paid.  We  would  like  to  see 
the  contribution  kept  where  it  is,  as  it  seems  proper  that  the  workers 
should  contribute  something  to  the  burden.  The  workmen's  contribu- 
tion, however,  does  not  affect  simulation  one  way  or  the  other. 

The    conditions    existing   in    Germany   create   a    community    of   in-   community 
terests  between   agriculture   and   industry,   on  which  account  agricul-  between  Ag- 
tural  as  well  as  industrial  workers  are  subject  to  compulsory  insur-   P^uiture  an 
ance.     These  views  are  shared  by  the  majority  of  the  employers;   for 
it  can   hardly  be  questioned   that  nearly  all  employers  take  the  hu- 


318  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

mane  standpoint  that  the  welfare  of  their  workmen  demands  an  ac- 
cident compensation  insurance  system. 

As  you  are  undoubtedly  aware,  there  is  now  before  the  Reichstag 
a  bill  comprising  new  Imperial  Insurance  Regulations  which  carry 
with  them  several  advantages  for  the  workers  and  also  some  disad- 
vantages for  the  employer,  especially  for  the  Empftyers'  Associations, 

Hopes  New  whose  autonomy  it  is  aimed  to  curtail  by  establishing  government  in- 

Bill  Will  Not 

Become  Law  surance  offices  to  which  the  fixing  of  the  compensation  is  to  be  trans- 
ferred. It  is  hoped  that  this  bill  will  not  become  law,  all  the  more 
so  as  the  establishment  of  the  insurance  offices  planned  would  pre- 
sumably cause  a  total  expenditure  of  at  least  30,000,000  marks,  ($7,500,- 
000)  not  even  the  smallest  fraction  of  which  would  raise  the  insur- 
ance benefits  or  bring  about  any  material  promotion  of  insurance  in 
other  directions. 

Yours  respectfully, 

(Signed)   Ferdinand  Kunad, 
Chairman    Saxe-Thuringian  Iron  &  Steel  Employers'  Association. 


AuGSBUEG,  September  1,  1910. 

Mb.  Febdinand  C.  Schwedtman, 

Berlin,  Germany. 
My  Dear  iSir: 

In  compliance  with  your  request  of  August  20th  we  beg  to  state 
the  following: 

The  organization  of  Employers'  Associations  as  prescribed  by  the 
German   Accident   Compensation    Insurance   law   we    consider   an   un- 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES       319 

qualified  success.    We  could  not  suggest  any  change.    Other  forms  of  in- 
surance,  such  as   the  Austrian   Territorial   system   for   instance,  may 
offer    certain    advantages,   but   after   all    is    said    and    done,   we   think 
the  German  system  is  by  far  the  best.    By  separating  the  lines  of  Indus-  German  Sys- 
try,  it  is  rendered  possible  to  gain  a  better  understanding  of  the  in-  J^^  ^^^^  ^^ 
jured  party's  economic  and  working  conditions,  to  enforce  the  regula- 
tions for  the  prevention  of  accidents  more  effectively  and  to  distribute 
the  cost  of  the  system  more  uniformly  and  fairly.     These  three  things 
are  the  very  basis  of  a  successful  Accident  Compensation  Insurance 
System.     The  German  employers  pay  the  greater  part  of  the  cost  of 
the  system  out  of  their  own  pockets  and  contribute  liberally  to  the 
workers'   sick   funds.     No  bureaucratic   institution   is   entrusted   with  on  a  Business 
the  administration  of  the  German  Accident  Compensation  Insurance  ^^^is 
Law,  but  the  very  factors  which  control  the  economic  life  of  Germany 
are  also  responsible  for  the  operation  of  our  accident  compensation 
insurance  system.     The  Government's  functions  are  merely  those  of 
supervision  and  examination.    We  would  not  be  in  favor  of  changing 
the  system. 

We  also  consider  that  compulsory  insurance  is  best.  We  are 
firmly  convinced  that  the  countries  in  which  the  system  of  voluntary 
or  optional  insurance  still  prevails  will,  in  the  course  of  time,  change 
to  the  German  system.     Compulsory  insurance  at  once  becomes  gen-  Compulsory 

Versus 

eral,  as  is  shown  by  the  evolution  of  Accident  Compensation  Insurance  voluntary 

T  n  m  1  v^T}  o  6. 

in  Germany.  If  you  exclude  agriculture  you  would  intensify  our  "land- 
flight,"  by  furnishing  the  agricultural  workers  an  additional  induce- 
ment to  become  factory  employes. 

Generally  speaking,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  German  workers 
are  well  satisfied  with  our  Accident  Compensation  Insurance  System; 
it  is  difficult  to  conceive  what  would  be  the  condition  of  German  work- 
men as  a  whole  without  such  insurance.  Certain  it  is  that  our  work- 
men's insurance  system  has  substantially  raised  the  German  workers' 
physical  and  mental  level.  The  drawbacks  of  the  system— pension 
mania  and  simulation— cannot  be  denied,  but  according  to  our  experi- 
ence, which  extends  over  a  good  many  years,  these  are  not  so  seri- 


320  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

ous  as  is  claimed  in  some  quarters  and  are  not  confined  to  compul- 
sory insurance  but  also  exist  in  connection  with  optional  insurance. 
We  are  unable  to  say  whether  workmen's  insurance  has  had  a  retard- 
ing or  stimulating  effect  on  the  trades'  union  movement.  We  hope 
the  above  statements  will   be  satisfactory  and  beg  to  remain 

Yours  very  truly,  • 

(Signed)    Richard   Schurer, 

Chairman  South  German  Textile  Employers'  Association. 


Munchex-Gladbach,  September  5,  1910. 


System  Has 
Not  Been 
Surpassed 


Designed  to 
Protect  and 
Benefit 
Workmen 


Dear  Sir: 

In  reply  to  your  favor  of  August  20th  I  beg  to  say  that  the  fol- 
lowing answers  to  your  questions  are  based  on  my  personal  experience 
with  our  insurance  laws: 

The  German  Accident  Compensation  Insurance  System  has  not 
been  surpassed  by  that  of  any  other  country  so  far  as  I  know,  but 
has  become  a  model  for  others  to  copy.  The  question  what  changes 
might  be  suggested  cannot  be  answered  in  a  general  way.  The  changes 
proposed  by  the  government,  which  occupy  the  Reichstag  at  the  present 
time,  are  being  bitterly  fought  by  the  German  Employers'  Asso- 
ciations. Speaking  from  my  own  experience,  I  believe  that  the  German 
system  has  stood  the  test  both  from  a  business  and  a  humane  point  of 
view.  No  one  who  is  familiar  with  the  German  Accident  Compensa- 
tion Insurance  Laws  and  has  come  into  actual  touch  with  them  would 
think  of  abolishing  them.  I  consider  compulsory  insurance  absolutely 
necessary  to  make  a  national  system  thoroughly  successful.  If  the 
German  workman  has  not  become  better  satisfied  since  the  adoption  of 
the  accident  compensation  insurance  system,  it  cannot  be  the  fault 
of  the  system  which  is  primarily  designed  to  protect  and  benefit  the 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES      321 

workers.     Trade   unions   have   steadily   increased   since   the   adoption 

of  the  system,  but  whether  our  accident  compensation  insurance  laws 

or  other  conditions  are  responsible  for  this  is  difficult  to  say.     - 

The  social  result  of  the  German  Accident  Compensation  Insurance  Material  im- 

and   Accident   Prevention   System   must   necessarily  be  a   substantial  P^'^vement  in 

Workers' 
improvement  of   their   material   condition.     The  workmen's   contribu-   Condition 

tion  through  the  sick  fund  during  the  13  weeks'  waiting  time  is  very 

desirable  and  practical;  whether  it  reduces  simulation  is  something  I 

would  not  like  to  say;  it  is  not  necessary,  in  my  opinion,  to  increase 

the  workmen's  contribution.     So  far  as  the  industrial  employers  are 

concerned,   the  application   of  our   system   to   agriculture  presumably 

has  not  much  interest.    I  am  justified  in  assuming  that  the  above  views 

are  shared  by  many  employers. 

Yours  respectfully, 

(Signed)  Gael  Otto  Langen, 

Chairman    of    the    Board    of    Directors    of   the    Rhenisch-Westphalian 
Textile  Employers'  Association. 


STATEMENT  OF  ROBERT  SCHMIDT, 
SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC  MEMBER  OF  REICHSTAG 

Berlin,  August  20,  1910- 

Accident  compensation  insurance  as  existing  in  Germany,  comprises 

workmen  in  industry,  trade  and  agriculture  with  the  exception  of  a  few 

occupations   in   which   the   operating  danger  is   comparatively  slight. 

TV^ants   All 
This  separation  has  led  to  many  inconveniences,  as  the  dividing  line  occupations 

cannot  always  be  clearly  recognized.     The  workmen  desire  that  this   gyg^"^^  ^^ 
separation    be    done   away    with    and    that    all    persons   employed    en- 
joy   the    same    protection    with    regard    to    operating    hazards.     By 


322 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   BELIEF 


Acknowledges 
Humanitarian 
Side  of 
System 


Thinks 
Austrian 
System 
Superior 


Wants  Com- 
pensation 
Raised 


Including  all  occupations  in  the  system,  the  general  cost  of  acci- 
dent insurance  compensation  would  be  appreciably  reduced,  while 
all  workers  would  enjoy  the  same  rights  in  case  of  accidents. 

The  German  Accident  Compensation  Insurance  Laws  go  far  be- 
yond the  principle  of  the  civil  law  in  that  the  claims  for  compensa- 
tion are  not  made  dependent  on  proving  either  the  employer's  or  the 
workman's  responsibility  for  the  accident.  Every  operating  accident 
is  recognized  as  such  in  the  sense  of  the  accident  compensation  in- 
surance laws.  This  fundamental  principle  gives  the  worker  a  right 
to  compensation  even  if  he  himself  contributed  to  the  accident  through 
carelessness  or  negligence.  It  must  be  acknowledged  that  humanitarian 
considerations  were  the  guiding  factors  in  eliminating  this  question  of 
responsibility  for  the  accident. 

The  German  Accident  Compensation  Insurance  Law  creates  com- 
pulsory organizations  according  to  lines  of  industry  and  makes  these 
the  carriers  of  the  insurance.  Among  the  workers  the  opinion  pre- 
vails that  this  division  according  to  lines  of  industry  is  clumsy  in 
operation  and  that  the  Austrian  method  based  on  territorial  divisions 
is  simpler  and  affords  many  advantages.  Disputes  frequently  arise 
as  to  the  Employers'  Association  to  which  a  given  occupation  belongs. 
Aside  from  this,  it  happens  that  in  composite  industries  several  Em- 
ployers' Associations  carry  the  insurance  or  that  occupations  are  as- 
signed to  an  Employers'  Association  to  which  they  do  not  belong  at 
all.  In  its  first  bills  relating  to  this  subject,  the  German  Government 
did  not  contemplate  any  division  but  recommended  the  establishment  of 
a  general  insurance  institution.  The  compensation  paid  to  those  in- 
jured by  accidents  is  two-thirds  of  the  damage  suffered  and  is  based 
upon  the  wages  actually  earned.  Anything  above  1500  marks  (375  dol- 
lars) per  annum,  however,  is  only  figured  at  one-third,  so  that  the  com- 
pensation does  not  even  reach  two-thirds  of  the  actual  damage  in  some 
cases.  It  is  only  in  case  of  complete  helplessness  on  the  part  of  the 
injured  party  that  the  pension  is  increased  to  the  full  amount  of  the 
annual  wages  earned,  subject  to  the  limitation  just  mentioned.  If  the 
injuries  caused  by  the  accident  prove  fatal,  the  widow  receives  a  pen- 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES      323 

sion  amounting  to  20  per  cent  of  the  annual  wages  earned  by  her  hus- 
band, and  a  similar  amount  for  each  child,  which,  however,  may  be  re- 
duced, making  the  maximum  income  60  per  cent  of  the  annual  wages 
earned.  If  the  deceased  was  the  principal  bread  winner  of  his  parents  or 
grandparents,  these  are  entitled  to  a  "Survivors'  Pension"  unless  the 
prior  claims  of  the  widow  or  children  of  the  deceased  have  exhausted 
the  compensation  possibilities.  The  amounts  of  the  incomes  or  pen- 
sions paid  to  parties  injured  by  accidents  are  considered  inadequate  by 
the  workers.  Full  compensation  for  the  damage  caused  by  the  oper- 
ating accident  is  asked. 

Workers  have  no  voice  whatever  in  the  original  fixing  of  the  com- 
pensation, which  is  left  entirely  to  the  Employers'  Association,  but  they 
do  form  part  of  the  tribunals  of  arbitration,  to  which  compensation  j^^gg  j^^^ 

cases  may  be  appealed  free  of  charge.     The  intention  to  restrict  this    Desire 

Workers' 

procedure  and  particularly  not  to  permit  all  cases  to  go  to  the  Imperial   Present 

Rights   of 

Insurance  Office,  the  highest  and  final  court  of  appeal  in  compensa-  Appeal  Cur- 

tion  disputes,  is  bitterly  opposed  by  our  workmen.  It  is  felt  that  the 
decision  of  one  tribunal  in  connection  with  these  frequently  very  impor- 
tant cases  is  not  sufficient,  but  that  there  should  be  an  opportunity  for 
another  examination  and  verdict. 

The  shortcomings  of  accident  compensation  insurance  as  the 
workers  see  them,  have  been  intimated  above.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
take  up  questions  of  a  subordinate  nature. 

(Signed)   Robert  Schmidt, 
Social  Democratic  Member  of  the  Reichstag. 


324 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Beandenbubg,     September  19,  1910. 


Great   Im- 
provement 
Over  Em- 
ployers' 
Liability 


Socialists 
Responsible 
for  Dissatis- 
faction 


Practical 
Value  of 
Workers' 
Contribution 


Mb.  F.  C.  Schwedtman. 
Dear  Sir: 

Your  esteemed  favor  of  the  20th  ult.  reached  me  with  considerable 
delay,  as  I  have  been  absent  from  home  for  quite  some  time.  I  now 
beg  to  say  the  following  in  answer  to  your  questions  concerning  our  ac- 
cident insurance  system: 

The  system,  generally  speaking,  has  proven  very  satisfactory  for 
25  years;  neither  does  the  new  bill  for  the  Imperial  insurance  regu- 
lations carry  with  it  any  substantial  changes  in  accident  insurance  as 
existing  to-day.  Compulsory  insurance  is  absolutely  necessary  to  in- 
sure the  success  of  a  national  system.  Our  present  accident  insurance 
law  is  a  great  improvement  over  the  old  employers'  liability  law  and 
protects  the  workmen  in  a  far  more  substantial  manner,  a  fact  which  is 
universally  acknowledged. 

The  employers  have  acquiesced  in  bearing  the  burden  of  the  sys- 
tem alone.  The  self-governing  feature  of  the  Employers'  Associations 
has  stood  the  test.  That  the  workmen  are  frequently  dissatisfied  with 
the  compensation  allowed  by  the  Employers'  Associations  and  with 
their  methods  generally,  is  something  for  which  the  Social-Democratic 
agitators  are  responsible.  The  accident  insurance  law  presumably  has 
exerted  no  influence  on  the  trade  unions. 

The  economic  condition  of  workmen  injured  by  accidents  has  un- 
doubtedly been  improved.  The  contribution  of  the  workmen  by  the  pay- 
ments being  taken  out  of  the  sick  funds  during  the  first  13  weeks  is 
of  no  importance  financially,  but  this  arrangement  makes  it  easier  to 
determine  the  extent  to  which  the  earning  capacity  has  been  impaired 
and  renders  simulation  more  difiicult,  besides  enabling  the  injured 
party  to  secure  payments  immediately  after  the  accident.  It  is  there- 
fore recommended  that  this  arrangement  be  retained  but  the  insiff- 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES      325 

nificant  contribution  of  the  workmen  involved  by  it  must  not  be  raised. 
The  separation  of  industrial  from  agricultural  accident  insurance,  in 
my  opinion,  is  in  the  interests  of  both,  because  the  conditions  are  so 
different  in  each. 

Accident  prevention  which  the  law  requires  from  the  Employers'  importance 

of  Accident 

Associations  is  of  the  utmost  importance  in  diminishing  the  accidents  prevention 
which  will  always  be  connected  with  the  operation  of  factories. 

The  views  expressed  above  presumably  coincide  with  those  held 
by  most  other  manufacturers,  although  small  employers  frequently  com- 
plain of  the  burdens  which  are  imposed  on  them  by  accident  insurance. 

Hoping  that  these  statements  will  be  of  some  use  to  you,  I  beg 
to  remain 

Yours  truly, 

(Signed)   O.  Metzenthin, 

President  of  the   Board   of   Directors   of  the  North   German   Textile 
Employers'  Association. 


Mainz,  August  26,  1010. 

Mr.  p.  C.  Schwedtman. 
Bear  Sir: 

In  compliance  with  your  request  of  the  20th  inst,  I  am  very  much 
pleased  to  state  my  views  regarding  the  questions  asked. 

The  German  Accident  Compensation  Insurance  System,  in  my 
opinion,  has  proven  thoroughly  satisfactory  in  its  present  form,  both 
from  a  business  and  a  humane  point  of  view.  I  consider  it  absolutely 
necessary  that  this  system  and  particularly  the  present  organization 
which  is  based  on  self-governing  Employers'  Associations,  be  retained,  j^^  Need  of 
There  have  been  no  developments  of  any  kind  to  render  changes  of  a  Changes 
fundamental  nature  necessary.  I  consider  compulsory  insurance  a  ne- 
cessity if  a  national  system  of  this  kind  is  to  succeed.  The  German 
Accident  Compensation  Insurance  System  has  had  no  effect  on  trade 


326 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Belittles 
Value    of 
Workers' 
Contribution 


I 


unions  in  my  opinion.  That  accident  compensation  insurance  has 
exerted  a  beneficial  social  influence  on  the  workers  as  a  class  can- 
not be  doubted.  Technically  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  "workers' 
contribution"  to  accident  compensation  insurance;  under  the  Grerman 
system  of  social  insurance  the  workers  merely  contribute  to  the  sick 
funds,  out  of  which  the  compensation  for  accidents  is  paid  during  the 
first  13  weeks.  The  contribution  in  question  therefore  is  of  little  import- 
ance, so  far  as  carrying  the  Accident  Compensation  Insurance  Law  into 
effect  is  concerned.  Simulation  could  hardly  be  expected  to  diminish 
on  account  of  the  workers'  contribution.  It  is  of  interest  to  the  indus- 
trial employer  to  have  agriculture  form  a  part  of  the  system. 

Even  if  our  social  insurance  legislation  has  so  far  found  but  little 
gratitude  and  appreciation  on  the  part  of  the  workmen,  I  nevertheless 
consider  it  the  duty  of  our  industries,  commerce,  trade  and  agriculture, 
to  continue  developing  and  improving  the  system  in  every  way  possible. 

Yours  respectfully, 

(Signed)  H.  R.  v.  Maffei, 
Chairman   South  German  Iron  and  Steel  Employers'  Association. 


Employers' 
Influence  on 
Original  Ac- 
cident Legis- 
lation 


THE  GERMAN   ACCIDENT   INSURANCE    SYSTEM 

By  MR.  ROTGER 

Ckairman  of  tbe  Central  Federation  of  German  Industrialists 

As  far  back  as  1879  the  Central  Federation  of  German  Industrial- 
ists advocated,  through  one  of  its  prominent  members,  Baron  von 
Stumm-Halberg,  the  establishment  of  an  old  age  and  invalidity  insur- 
ance system,  and  in  1880  a  memorandum  was  submitted  to  Prince 
Bismarck  by  Louis  Baare,  also  a  leading  industrialist  and  a  well-known 
member  of  the  Federation,  which  was  of  far-reaching  influence  on 
the  first  government  bill  dealing  with  the  subject  of  accident  insur- 


LETTERS  FROM  PROMINENT  GERMAN  AUTHORITIES       327 

ance.    At  the  Central  Federation's  Committee  meeting  on  January  30, 

1881,  this  bill  met  with  hearty  approval  and  enthusiastic  support. 

In   the  Central   Federation  of  German   Industrialists  and   among  German 

manufacturers  generally  the  conviction  is  felt  that  the  German  Acci-  turers  Have 

dent  Compensation  Insurance  System  has  proven  beneficial,  and  that  ^°""^  Sys- 
tem Beneficial 

its  fundamental   principles  are  well  conceived.  After  the  system   had 

been  in  operation  for  ten  years,  the  supplementary  bill  introduced  with 

reference  to  it  gave  rise  to  a  discussion  at  the  Committee  meeting  on 

the  Central  Federation,  held  on  October  18,  1897,  and  the  remarks  made 

on  that  occasion  by  the  late  Mr.  Jencke,  a  former  president  of  the 

Central  Federation  and  himself  an  expert  on  the  subject,  met  with 

universal  approval.     His  statement  culminated  in  the  conclusion  that 

the   fundamental   principles   of  the   law   required  no   revision   of  any  An  Expert's 

Opinion  Ex- 
kind  and  that  the  opinion  prevailed,  both  in  industrial  circles  and  out-  pressed   14 

side  of  them,   that  of  the  three   insurance  laws  the  one  relating  to  ^  ' 

accident  compensation  insurance  had  proven  the  greatest  success  of  all. 

That  is  as  true  today  as  it  was  then.    The  industrialists  willingly 

bear  the  financial  burden  of  accident  insurance  and  also  do  all  the 

work   connected   with   the   operation   of  the   system.     They   are   very 

jealous,  however,  of  their  right  to  manage  their  own  affairs,  and  justly  insist  on 

Self-Govern- 
so,  for  the  self-governing  feature  of  the  Employers'  Associations  is  of  ment 

vital  importance  to  the  success  of  the  accident  insurance  system. 

The  good  work  done  by  the  Employers'  Associations  is  being  rec- 
ognized and  appreciated  everywhere,  even  outside  of  manufacturing 
circles. 

Details,  of  course,  cannot  be  gone  into  here.  That  some  of  the 
things  found  in  the  original  law  and  in  the  subsequent  amendments 
were  not  entirely  approved  by  the  German  industrialists  but  even 
attacked  and  vigorously  fought,  where,  in  the  opinion  of  the  employ- 
ing class,  unwarranted  demands  were  made,  cannot  cause  surprise. 
Thus  the  excessive  increase  in  the  reserve  funds  called  for  by  the  sup- 
plementary bill  of  1900  was  opposed  from  the  very  start  and,  as  a 
result,  the  new  Imperial  Insurance  Regulation  bill  which  is  now  pend- 
ing, again  relieves  this  condition. 


APPENDIX 

PART  TWO 

1.  Englisk  Compensation   Act  of   1906. 

2.  Contracting  Out  Scneme  oi  the  Great  Eastern  Railway  Com- 

pany   and    Financial    Operations    of    Same  for    Year  Ending 
June  30,   1910. 

3.  Statements    Made    by    LaLor    Union    Officials    and    Employers 

Before  Departmental  Committee  of  1904,  Describing  Efiect 
of  Act  of   1897  upon  Elderly  and  Defective  ^V^orkmen. 

4.  Statement     of    Purpose     and     Operation    of    tne     Iron    Trade 

Employers'  Insurance  Association  Ly  tlie  Secretary,  Mr.   S. 
R.   Glad^vell,  London,  England. 

5.  Statistical  Tables  of    Accidents  of  Employment    During  Years 

1904  to  1909,  Inclusive.      Prepared  by  Department  of  Labor, 
Dominion  of  Canada. 


329 


Ill 


WORKMEN'S  COMPENSATION  ACT,  1906 

(6  Edw.  VII.  c.  58) 

An  Act  to  consolidate  and  amend  the  Law  with  respect  to  Com- 
pensation to  Workmen  for  Injuries  suffered  in  the  course  of  their 
Employment.  (21st  December,  1906.) 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  King's  most  Excellent  Majesty,  by  and  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Lords  Spiritual  and  Temporal,  and  Com- 
mons, in  this  present  Parliament  assembled,  and  by  the  authority  of 
the  same,  as  follows: 

I 

(1)  If  in  any  employment  personal  injury  by  accident  arising  out 
of  and  in  the  course  of  the  employment  is  caused  to  a  workman,  his 
employer  shall,  subject  as  hereinafter  mentioned,  be  liable  to  pay  com- 
pensation in  accordance  with  the  First  Schedule  to  this  Act. 

(2)  Provided  that 

(a)  The  employer  shall  not  be  liable  under  this  Act  in  re- 

spect of  any  injury  which  does  not  disable  the  work- 
man for  a  period  of  at  least  one  week  from  earning 
full  wages  at  the  work  at  which  he  was  employed. 

(b)  When   the   injury   was   caused   by   the   personal   negli- 

gence or  wilful  act  of  the  employer  or  of  some  person 
for  whose  act  or  default  the  employer  is  responsible, 
nothing  in  this  Act  shall  affect  any  civil  liability  of 
the  employer,  but  in  that  case  the  workman  may,  at 
his  option,  either  claim  compensation  under  this  Act  or 

take  proceedings  independently  of  this  Act;   but  the 

331 


332  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

employer  shall  not  be  liable  to  pay  compensation  for 
injury  to  a  workman  by  accident  arising  out  of  and 
in  the  course  of  the  employment  both  independently  of 
and  also  under  this  Act,  and  shall  not  be  liable  to 
any  proceedings  independently  of  this  Act,  except  in 
case  of  such  personal  negligence  or  wilful  act  as  afore- 
said. 
(c)  If  it  is  proved  that  the  injury  to  a  workman  is  attri- 
butable to  the  serious  and  wilful  misconduct  of  the 
workman,  any  compensation  claimed  in  respect  of 
that  injury  shall,  unless  the  injury  results  in  death 
or  serious  and  permanent  disablement,  be  disallowed. 

(3)  If  any  question  arises  in  any  proceedings  under  this  Act  as 
to  the  liability  to  pay  compensation  under  this  Act  (including  any 
question  as  to  whether  the  person  injured  is  a  workman  to  whom  this 
Act  applies),  or  as  to  the  amount  or  duration  of  compensation  under 
this  Act,  the  question,  if  not  settled  by  agreement,  shall,  subject  to 
the  provisions  of  the  First  Schedule  to  this  Act,  be  settled  by  arbi- 
tration, in  accordance  with  the  Second  Schedule  to  this  Act. 

(4)  If,  within  the  time  hereinafter  in  this  Act  limited  for  taking 
proceedings,  an  action  is  brought  to  recover  damages  independently 
of  this  Act  for  injury  caused  by  any  accident  and  is  determined  in 
Buch  action  that  the  injury  is  one  for  which  the  employer  is  not 
liable  in  such  action,  but  that  he  would  have  been  liable  to  pay  com- 
pensation under  the  provisions  of  this  Act,  the  action  shall  be  dis- 
missed; but  the  court  in  which  the  action  is  tried  shall,  if  the  plaintifE 
so  choose,  proceed  to  assess  such  compensation,  but  may  deduct  from 
such  compensation  all  or  part  of  the  costs  which,  in  its  judgment,  have 
been  caused  by  the  plaintiff  bringing  the  action  instead  of  proceeding 
under  this  Act.  In  any  proceeding  under  this  subsection,  when  the 
court  assesses  the  compensation  it  shall  give  a  certificate  of  the  com- 
pensation it  has  awarded  and  the  directions  it  has  given  as  to  the  de- 
duction for  costs,  and  such  certificate  shall  have  the  force  and  effect 
of  an  award  under  this  Act. 


workmen's  compensation  act,  1906  333 

(5)  Nothing  in  this  Act  shall  affect  any  proceeding  for  a  fine 
under  the  enactments  relating  to  mines,  factories,  or  workshops, 
or  the  application  of  any  such  fine. 

IT 

(1)  Proceedings  for  the  recovery  under  this  Act  of  compensation 
for  an  injury  shall  not  be  maintainable  unless  notice  of  the  accident 
has  been  given  as  soon  as  practicable  after  the  happening  thereof  and 
before  the  workman  has  voluntarily  left  the  employment  in  which  he 
was  injured,  and  unless  the  claim  for  compensation  with  respect  to 
such  accident  has  been  made  within  six  months  from  the  occurrence 
of  the  accident  causing  the  injury,  or,  in  case  of  death,  within  six 
months  from  the  time  of  death: 

Provided  always  that 

(a)  the  want  of  or  any  defect  or  inaccuracy  in  such  notice 

shall  not  be  a  bar  to  the  maintenance  of  such  pro- 
ceedings if  it  is  found  in  the  proceedings  for  settling 
the  claim  that  the  employer  is  not,  or  would  not,  if 
a  notice  or  an  amended  notice  were  then  given  and  the 
hearing  postponed,  be  prejudiced  in  his  defence  by 
the  want,  defect,  or  inaccuracy,  or  that  such  want,  de- 
fect, or  inaccuracy  was  occasioned  by  mistake,  ab- 
sence from  the  United  Kingdom,  or  other  reasonable 
cause;   and 

(b)  the  failure  to  make  a  claim  within  the  period  above 

specified  shall  not  be  a  bar  to  the  maintenance  of 
such  proceedings  if  it  is  found  that  the  failure  was 
occasioned  by  mistake,  absence  from  the  United  King- 
dom, or  other  reasonable  cause. 

(2)  Notice  in  respect  of  an  injury  under  this  Act  shall  give  the 
name  and  address  of  the  person  injured,  and  shall  state  in  ordinary 
language,  the  cause  of  the  injury  and  the  date  at  which  the  accident 
happened,  and  shall  be  served  on  the  employer,  or,  if  there  is  more 
than  one  employer,  upon  one  of  such  employers. 


334  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

(3)  The  notice  may  be  served  by  delivering  the  same  at,  or  send- 
ing it  by  post  in  a  registered  letter  addressed  to,  the  residence  or  place 
of  business  of  the  person  on  whom  it  is  to  be  served. 

(4)  Where  the  employer  is  a  body  of  persons,  corporate  or  un- 

incorporate,  the  notice  may   also  be  served   by   delivering  the  same 

at,  or  by  sending  it  by  post  in  a  registered  letter  addressed  to,  the 

employer  at  the  office,  or,  if  there  be  more  than  one  office,  any  one 

of  the  offices  of  such  body. 

Ill 

(1)  If  the  Registrar  of  FYiendly  Societies,  after  taking  steps  to  as- 
certain the  views  of  the  employer  and  workman,  certifies  that  any 
scheme  of  compensation,  benefit,  or  insurance  for  the  workman  of  an 
employer  in  any  employment,  whether  or  not  such  scheme  includes 
other  employers  and  their  workmen,  provides  scales  of  compensation 
not  less  favorable  to  the  workmen  and  their  dependants  than  the  corre- 
sponding scales  contained  in  this  Act,  and  that,  where  the  scheme  pro- 
vides for  contributions  by  the  workmen,  the  scheme  confers  benefits 
at  least  equivalent  to  those  contributions,  in  addition  to  the  benefits 
to  which  the  workmen  would  have  been  entitled  under  this  Act,  and 
that  a  majority  (to  be  ascertained  by  ballot)  of  the  workmen  to  whom 
the  scheme  is  applicable  are  in  favor  of  such  scheme,  the  employer 
may,  whilst  the  certificate  is  In  force,  contract  with  any  of  his  work- 
men that  the  provisions  of  the  scheme  shall  be  substituted  for  the  pro- 
visions of  this  Act,  and  thereupon  the  employer  shall  be  liable  only 
in  accordance  with  the  scheme,  but,  save  as  aforesaid,  this  Act  shall 
apply  notwithstanding  any  contract  to  the  contrary  made  after  the  com- 
mencement of  this  Act. 

(2)  The  Registrar  may  give  a  certificate  to  expire  at  the  end  of  a 
limited  period  of  not  less  than  five  years,  and  may  from  time  to  time 
renew  with  or  without  modifications  such  a  certificate  to  expire  at 
the  end  of  the  period  for  which  it  is  renewed. 

(3)  No  scheme  shall  be  certified  which  contains  an  obligation 
upon  the  workmen  to  join  the  scheme  as  a  condition  of  their  hiring, 
or  which  does  not  contain  provisions  enabling  a  workman  to  with- 
draw from  the  scheme. 


workmen's  compensation  act,  1906  335 

(4)  If  complaint  is  made  to  the  Registrar  of  Friendly  Societies  by 
or  on  behalf  of  the  workmen  of  any  employer  that  the  benefits  con- 
ferred by  any  scheme  no  longer  conform  to  the  conditions  stated  in 
subsection  (1)  of  this  section,  or  that  the  provisions  of  such  scheme 
are  being  violated,  or  that  the  scheme  is  not  being  fairly  administered, 
or  that  satisfactory  reasons  exist  for  revoking  the  certificate,  the 
Registrar  shall  examine  into  the  complaint,  and,  if  satisfied  that  good 
cause  exists  for  such  complaint,  shall,  unless  the  cause  of  complaint 
is  removed,  revoke  the  certificate. 

(5)  When  a  certificate  is  revoked  or  expires,  any  moneys  or 
securities  held  for  the  purpose  of  the  scheme  shall,  after  due  pro- 
vision has  been  made  to  discharge  the  liabilities  already  accrued,  be 
distributed  as  may  be  arranged  between  the  employer  and  workmen, 
or  as  may  be  determined  by  the  Registrar  of  Friendly  Societies  in  the 
event  of  a  difference  of  opinion. 

(6)  Whenever  a  scheme  has  been  certified  as  aforesaid,  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  the  employer  to  answer  all  such  inquiries  and  to  furnish  all 
such  accounts  in  regard  to  the  scheme  as  may  be  made  or  required 
by  the  Registrar  of  Friendly  Societies. 

(7)  The  Chief  Registrar  of  Friendly  Societies  shall  include  in  his 
annual  report  the  particulars  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Registrar  under 
this  Act. 

(8)  The  Chief  Registrar  of  Friendly  Societies  may  make  regula- 
tions for  the  purpose  of  carrying  this  section  into  effect. 

IV 

(1)  Where  any  person  (in  this  section  referred  to  as  the  princi- 
pal) in  the  course  of  or  for  the  purposes  of  his  trade  or  business,  con- 
tracts with  any  other  person  (in  this  section  referred  to  as  the  con- 
tractor) for  the  execution  by  or  under  the  contractor  of  the  whole  or 
any  part  of  any  work  undertaken  by  the  principal,  the  principal  shall 
be  liable  to  pay  to  any  workman  employed  in  the  execution  of  the  work 
any  compensation  under  this  Act  which  he  would  have  been  liable  to 


336  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

pay  if  that  workman  had  been  immediately  employed  by  him;  and 
where  compensation  is  claimed  from  or  proceedings  are  taken  against 
the  principal,  then,  in  the  application  of  this  Act  references  to  the 
principal  shall  be  substituted  for  the  references  to  the  employer,  except 
that  the  amount  of  compensation  shall  be  calculated  with  reference  to 
the  earnings  of  the  workman  under  the  employer  by  whom  he  is  im- 
mediately  employed: 

Provided,  that,  where  the  contract  relates  to  threshing,  plowing, 
or  other  agricultural  work,  and  the  contractor  provides  and  uses 
machinery  driven  by  mechanical  power  for  the  purpose  of  such  work, 
he  and  he  alone  shall  be  liable  under  this  Act  to  pay  compensation 
to  any  workman  employed  by  him  on  such  work. 

(2)  Where  the  principal  is  liable  to  pay  compensation  under  this 
section,  he  shall  be  entitled  to  be  indemnified  by  any  person  who  would 
have  been  liable  to  pay  compensation  to  the  workman  independently 
of  this  section,  and  all  questions  as  to  the  right  and  amount  of  any 
such  indemnity  shall  in  default  of  agreement  be  settled  by  arbitra- 
tion under  this  Act. 

(3)  Nothing  in  this  section  shall  be  construed  as  preventing  a 
workman  recovering  compensation  under  this  Act  from  the  contrac- 
tor instead  of  the  principal. 

(4)  This  section  shall  not  apply  in  any  case  where  the  accident 
occurred  elsewhere  than  on,  or  in,  or  about  premises  on  which  the 
principal  has  undertaken  to  execute  the  work  or  which  are  otherwise 
under  his  control  or  management. 

V 

(1)  "Where  any  employer  has  entered  into  a  contract  with  any 
insurers  in  respect  of  any  liability  under  this  Act  to  any  workman, 
then,  in  the  event  of  the  employer  becoming  bankrupt,  or  making  a 
composition  or  arrangement  with  his  creditors,  or  if  the  employer  is 
a  company  in  the  event  of  the  company  having  commenced  to  be  wound 
up,  the  rights  of  the  employer  against  the  insurers  as  respects  that 


workmen's  compensation  act,  1906  337 

liability  shall,  notwithstanding  anything  in  the  enactments  relating  to 
bankruptcy  and  the  winding  up  of  companies,  be  transferred  to  and 
vest  in  the  workmen,  and  upon  any  such  transfers  the  insurer  shall 
have  the  same  rights  and  remedied  and  be  subject  to  the  same  lia- 
bilities as  if  they  were  the  employer,  so  however  that  the  insurers 
shall  not  be  under  any  greater  liability  to  the  workman  than  they 
would  have  been  under  to  the  employer. 

(2)  If  the  liability  of  the  insurers  to  the  workman  is  less  than 
the  liability  of  the  employer  to  the  workman,  the  workman  may  prove 
for  the  balance  in  the  bankruptcy  or  liquidation. 

(3)  There  shall  be  included  among  the  debts  which  under  section 
tjne  of  the  Preferential  Payments  in  Bankruptcy  Act,  1888,  and  section 
four  of  the  Preferential  Payments  in  Bankruptcy  (Ireland)  Act,  1889, 
are  in  the  distribution  of  the  property  of  a  bankrupt  and  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  assets  of  a  company  being  wound  up  to  be  paid  in 
priority  to  all  other  debts,  the  amount,  not  exceeding  in  any  individual 
case  one  hundred  pounds,  due  in  respect  of  any  compensation  the  lia- 
bility wherefore  accrued  before  the  date  of  the  receiving  order  or  the 
date  of  the  commencement  of  the  winding  up,  and  those  Acts  and  the 
Preferential  Payments  in  Bankruptcy  Amendment  Act,  1897,  shall  have 
effect  accordingly.  Where  the  compensation  is  a  weekly  payment,  the 
amount  due  in  respect  thereof  shall,  for  the  purposes  of  this  pro- 
vision, be  taken  to  be  the  amount  of  the  lump  sum  for  which  the  week- 
ly payment  could,  if  redeemable,  be  redeemed  if  the  employer  made  an 
application  for  that  purpose  under  the  First  Schedule  to  this  Act. 

(4)  In  the  case  of  the  winding  up  of  a  company  within  the  mean- 
ing of  the  Stannaries  Act,  1887,  such  an  amount  as  aforesaid,  if  the 
compensation  is  payable  to  a  miner  or  the  dependants  of  a  miner,  shall 
have  a  like  priority  as  is  conferred  on  wages  of  miners  by  section 
nine  of  that  act,  and  that  section  shall  have  effect  accordingly. 

(5)  The  provisions  of  this  section  with  respect  to  preferences  and 
priorities  shall  not  apply  where  the  bankrupt  or  the  company  being 
wound  up  has  entered  into  such  a  contract  with  insurers  as  aforesaid. 


338  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

(6)  This  section  shall  not  apply  where  a  company  is  wound  up 
voluntarily  merely  for  the  purposes  of  reconstruction  or  of  amalga- 
mation with  another  company. 

VI 
Where  the  injury  for  which  compensation  is  payable  under  this 
act  was  caused  under  circumstances  creating  a  leg^  liability  in  some 
person  other  than  the  employer  to  pay  damages  in  respect  thereof: 

(1)  The  workman  may  take  proceedings  both  against  that 

person  to  recover  damages  and  against  any  person 
liable  to  pay  compensation  under  this  act  for  such 
compensation,  but  shall  not  be  entitled  to  recover 
both   damages  and   compensation;    and 

(2)  If  the  workman  has  recovered  compensation  under  this 

Act  the  person  by  whom  the  compensation  was  paid 
(and  any  person  who  has  been  called  on  to  pay  an 
indemnity  under  the  section  of  this  Act  relating 
to  sub-contracting)  shall  be  entitled  to  be  indemni- 
fied by  the  person  so  liable  to  pay  damages  as 
aforesaid,  and  all  questions  as  to  the  right  to  and 
amount  of  any  such  indemnity  shall,  in  default  of 
agreement,  be  settled  by  action,  or,  by  consent  of  the 
parties,   by   arbitration   under  this  Act. 

VII 

(1)  This  Act  shall  apply  to  masters,  seamen,  and  apprentices  to 
the  sea  service  and  apprentices  in  the  sea  fishing  service,  provided 
that  such  persons  are  workmen  within  the  meaning  of  this  Act,  and 
are  members  of  the  crew  of  any  ship  registered  in  the  United  King- 
dom, or  of  any  other  British  ship  or  vessel  of  which  the  owner,  or  (if 
there  is  more  than  one  owner)  the  managing  owner,  or  manager  re- 
sides or  has  his  principal  place  of  business  in  the  United  Kingdom, 
subject  to  the  following  modifications: 

(a)  The  notice  of  accident  and  the  claim  for  compensation 
may,  except  where  the  person  injured  is  the  master, 


WORKMEN^S  COMPENSATION  ACT,  1906  339 

be  served  on  the  master  of  the  ship  as  if  he  were  the 
employer,  but  where  the  accident  happened  and  the 
incapacity  commenced  on  board  the  ship  it  shall  not 
be  necessary  to  give  any  notice  of  the  accident; 

(b)  In    the    case    of    the    death    of    the    master,    seaman, 

or  apprentice,  the  claim  for  compensation  shall  be 
made  within  six  months  after  news  of  the  death  has 
been  received  by  the  claimant; 

(c)  Where    an    injured    master,    seaman,    or    apprentice    is 

discharged  or  left  behind  in  a  British  possession  or 
in  a  foreign  country,  depositions  respecting  the  cir- 
cumstances and  nature  of  the  injury  may  be  taken 
by  any  judge  or  magistrate  in  the  British  possession, 
and  by  any  British  consular  officer  in  the  foreign 
country,  and  if  so  taken  shall  be  transmitted  by  the 
person  by  whom  they  are  taken  to  the  Board  of  Trade, 
and  such  depositions  or  certified  copies  thereof  shall 
in  any  proceedings  for  enforcing  the  claim  be  admis- 
sible in  evidence  as  provided  by  sections  six  hundred 
and  ninety-one  and  six  hundred  and  ninety-five  of  the 
Merchant  Shipping  Act,  1894,  and  those  sections  shall 
apply   accordingly; 

(d)  In  the  case  of  the  death  of  a  master,  seaman,  or  ap- 

prentice, leaving  no  dependants,  no  compensation 
shall  be  payable,  if  the  owner  of  the  ship  is  under 
the  Merchant  Shipping  Act,  1894,  liable  to  pay  the 
expenses  of  the  burial; 

(e)  The  weekly  payment  shall  not  be  payable  in  respect  of 

the  period  during  which  the  owner  of  the  ship  is, 
under  the  Merchant  Shipping  Act,  1894,  as  amended 
by  any  subsequent  enactment,  or  otherwise,  liable 
to  defray  the  expenses  of  maintenance  of  the  injured 
master,  seaman,  or  apprentice; 


340  ACCIDENT  PREVENTION  AND  RELIEF 

(f)  Any  sum  payable  by  the  way  of  compensation  by  the 

owner  of  a  ship  under  this  Act  shall  be  paid  in  full 
notwithstanding  anything  in  section  five  hun- 
dred and  three  of  the  Merchant  Shipping  Act, 
1894,  (which  relates  to  the  limitation  of  a  ship  own- 
er's liability  in  certain  cases  of  lo*  of  life,  injury  or 
damage),  but  the  limitation  on  the  owner's  liability 
imposed  by  that  section  shall  apply  to  the  amount 
recoverable  by  way  of  indemnity  under  the  section 
of  this  Act  relating  to  remedies  both  against  em- 
ployer and  stranger  as  if  the  indemnity  were  dam- 
ages for  the  loss  of  .life  or  personal  injury: 

(g)  Subsections   (2)    and    (3)    of  section  one  hundred  and 

seventy-four  of  the  Merchant  Shipping  Act,  1894, 
(which  relates  to  the  recovery  of  wages  or  seamen 
lost  with  their  ship),  shall  apply  as  respects  proceed- 
ings for  the  recovery  of  compensation  by  dependants 
of  masters,  seamen,  and  apprentices  lost  with  their 
ship  as  they  apply  with  respect  to  proceedings  for 
the  recovery  of  wages  due  to  seamen  and  apprentices; 
and  proceedings  for  the  recovery  of  compensation 
shall  in  such  a  case  be  maintainable  if  the  claim  is 
made  within  eighteen  months  of  the  date  at  which 
the  ship  is  deemed  to  have  been  lost  with  all  hands; 

(2)  This  Act  shall  not  apply  to  such  members  of  the  crew  of  a 
fishing  vessel  as  are  remunerated  by  shares  in  the  profits  or  the  gross 
earnings  of  the  working  of  such  vessel. 

(3)  This  section  shall  extend  to  pilots  to  whom  Part  X  of  the 
Merchant  Shipping  Act,  1894,  applies,  as  if  a  pilot  when  employed  on 
any  such  ship  as  aforesaid  were  a  seaman  and  a  member  of  the  crew. 


WORKMEN^S  COMPENSATION  ACT,  1906  341 

VIII 
(1)  Where — 

(i)  the  certifying  surgeon  appointed  under  the  Factory  and 
Workshop  Act,  1901,  for  the  district  in  which  a  work- 
man is  employed  certifies  that  the  workman  is  suf- 
fering from  a  disease  mentioned  in  the  Third  Sched- 
ule to  this  Act,  and  is  thereby  disabled  from  earning 
full  wages  at  the  work  at  which  he  was  employed;  or 

(ii)  a  workman  is,  in  pursuance  of  any  special  rules  or 
regulations  made  under  the  Factory  and  Workshop 
Act,  1901,  suspended  from  his  usual  employment  on 
account  of  having  contracted  any  such  disease;  or 

(iii)  the  death  of  a  workman  is  caused  by  any  such  dis- 
ease; and  the  disease  is  due  to  the  nature  of  any 
employment  in  which  the  workman  was  employed 
at  any  time  within  the  twelve  months  previous  to  the 
date  of  the  disablement  or  suspension,  whether  under 
one  or  more  employers,  he  or  his  dependants  shall  be 
entitled  to  compensation  under  this  Act  as  if  the  dis- 
ease or  such  suspension  as  aforesaid  were  a  personal 
injury  by  accident  arising  out  of  and  in  the  course 
of  that  employment,  subject  to  the  following  modifi- 
cations; 

;(a)  The  disablement  or  suspension  shall  be  treated  as  the 
happening  of   the  accident; 

(b)  If  it  be  proved  that  the  workman  has  at  the  time  of 

entering  the  employment  wilfully  and  falsely  rep- 
resented himself  in  writing  as  not  having  previously 
suffered  from  the  disease,  compensation  shall  not  be 
payable; 

(c)  The   compensation   shall   be    recoverable   from   the   em- 

ployer  who   last   employed   the  workman    during  the 


342  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

last  twelve  months  in  the  employment  to  the  nature 
of  which  the  disease  was  due; 

Provided  that — 

(i)  the  workman  or  his  dependants  if  so  required  shall 
furnish  that  employer  with  such  information  as  to 
the  names  and  addresses  of  all  th^  other  employers 
who  employed  him  in  the  employment  during  the 
said  twelve  months  as  he  or  they  may  possess,  and, 
if  such  information  is  not  furnished,  or  is  not  suffi- 
cient to  enable  that  employer  to  take  proceedings 
under  the  next  following  proviso,  that  employer  upon 
proving  that  the  disease  was  not  contracted  whilst 
the  workman  was  in  his  employment  shall  not  be 
liable  to  pay  compensation;   and 

(ii)  if  that  employer  alleges  that  the  disease  was  in  fact 
contracted  whilst  the  workman  was  in  the  employ- 
ment of  some  other  employer,  and  not  whilst  in  his 
employment,  he  may  join  such  other  employer  as  a 
party  to  the  arbitration,  and  if  the  allegation  is 
proved  that  other  employer  shall  be  the  employer 
from  whom  the  compensation  is  to  be  recoverable; 
and 

(iii)  if  the  disease  is  of  such  a  nature  as  to  be  contracted 
by  a  gradual  process,  any  other  employers  who  during 
the  said  twelve  months  employed  the  workman  in  the 
employment  to  the  nature  of  which  the  disease  was 
due  shall  be  liable  to  make  to  the  employer  from 
whom  compensation  is  recoverable  such  contributions 
as,  in  default  of  agreement,  may  be  determined  in 
the  arbitration  under  this  Act  for  settling  the  amount 
of  the  compensation; 

(d)  The  amount  of  the  compensation  shall  be  calculated 
with  reference  to  the  earnings  of  the  workman  under 


WORKMEN^S  COMPENSATION  ACT,  1906  343 

the  employer  from  whom  the  compensation  is  recover- 
able; 

(e)  The  employer  to  whom  notice  of  the  death,  disablement, 

or  suspension  is  to  be  given  shall  be  the  employer  who 
last  employed  the  workman  during  the  said  twelve 
months  in  the  employment  to  the  nature  of  which 
the  disease  was  due,  and  the  notice  may  be  given 
notwithstanding  that  the  workman  has  voluntarily 
left  his  employment. 

(f)  If  an  employer  or  a  workman  is  agreed  by  the  action 

of  a  certifying  or  other  surgeon  in  giving  or  refusing 
to  give  a  certificate  of  disablement  or  in  suspending 
or  refusing  to  suspend  a  workman  for  the  purposes 
of  this  section,  the  matter  shall  in  accordance  with 
regulations  made  by  the  Secretary  of  State  be  refer- 
red to  a  medical  referee,  whose  decision  shall  be  final. 

(2)  If  the  workman  at  or  immediately  before  the  date  of  the  dis- 
ablement or  suspension  was  employed  in  any  process  mentioned  in 
the  second  column  of  the  Third  Schedule  to  this  Act,  and  the  disease 
contracted  is  the  disease  in  the  first  column  of  that  schedule  set  oppo- 
site the  description  of  the  process,  the  disease,  except  where  the  cer- 
tifying surgeon  certifies  that  in  his  opinion  the  disease  was  not  due 
to  the  nature  of  the  employment,  shall  be  deemed  to  have  been  due 
to  the  nature  of  that  employment,  unless  the  employer  proves  the  con- 
trary. 

(3)  The  Secretary  of  State  may  make  rules  regulating  the  duties 
and  fees  of  certifying  and  other  surgeons  (including  dentists)  under 
this  section. 

(4)  For  the  purposes  of  this  section  the  date  of  disablement  shall 
be  such  date  as  the  certifying  surgeon  certifies  as  the  date  on  which 
the  disablement  commenced,  or,  if  he  is  unable  to  certify  such  a  date, 
the  date  on  which  the  certificate  is  given:     Provided  that — 

(a)  Where  the  medical  referee  allows  an  appeal  against  a 
refusal  by  a  certifying  surgeon  to  give  a  certificate 


344  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

of  disablement,  the  date  of  disablement  shall  be  such 
date  as  the  medical  referee  may  determine; 
(b)  Where  a  workman  dies  without  having  obtained  a  cer- 
tificate of  disablement,  or  is  at  the  time  of  death  not 
in  receipt  of  a  weekly  payment  on  account  of  disable- 
ment, it  shall  be  the  date  of  death. 

(5)  In  such  cases,  and  subject  to  such  conditions  as  the  Secre- 
tary of  State  may  direct,  a  medical  practitioner  appointed  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  State  for  the  purpose  shall  have  the  powers  and  duties  of  a 
certifying  surgeon  under  this  section,  and  this  section  shall  be  con- 
strued accordingly. 

(6)  The  Secretary  of  State  may  make  orders  for  extending  the 
provisions  of  this  section  to  other  diseases  and  other  processes,  and 
to  injuries  due  to  the  nature  of  any  employment  specified  in  the  order 
not  being  injuries  by  accident,  either  without  modification  or  subject 
to  such  modification  as  may  be  contained  in  the  order. 

(7)  Where  after  inquiry  held  on  the  application  of  any  employer 
or  workman  engaged  in  any  industry  to  which  this  section  applies, 
it  appears  that  a  mutual  trade  insurance  company  or  society  for  in- 
suring against  the  risks  under  this  section  has  been  established  for 
the  industry,  and  that  a  majority  of  the  employers  engaged  in  that 
industry  are  insured  against  such  risks  in  the  company  or  society 
and  that  the  company  or  society  consents,  the  Secretary  of  State  may, 
by  Provisional  Order,  require  all  employers  in  that  industry  to  insure 
in  the  company  or  society  upon  such  terms  and  under  such  conditions 
and  subject  to  such  exceptions  as  may  be  set  forth  in  the  Order. 
Where  such  a  company  or  society  has  been  established,  but  is  con- 
fined to  employers  in  any  particular  locality  or  of  any  particular 
class,  the  Secretary  of  State  may  for  the  purposes  of  this  provision 
treat  the  industry,  as  carried  on  by  employers  in  that  locality  or  of 
that  class,  as  a  separate  industry. 

(8)  A  Provisional  Order  made  under  this  section  shall  be  of  no 
force  whatever  unless  and  until  it  is  confirmed  by  Parliament,  and  if, 


workmen's  compensation  act,  1906  345 

while  the  Bill  confirming  any  such  Order  is  pending  in  either  House 
of  Parliament,  a  petition  is  presented  against  the  Order,  the  Bill  may 
be  referred  to  a  select  committee,  and  the  petitioner  shall  be  allowed 
to  appear  and  oppose  as  in  the  case  of  Private  Bills,  and  any  Act  con- 
firming any  Provisional  Order  under  this  section  may  be  repealed, 
altered,  or  amended  by  a  Provisional  Order  made  and  confirmed  in 
like  manner. 

(9)  Any  expenses  incurred  by  the  Secretary  of  State  in  respect 
of  any  such  Order,  Provisional  Order,  or  confirming  Bill  shall  be  de- 
frayed out  of  moneys  provided  by  Parliament. 

(10)  Nothing  in  this  section  shall  affect  the  rights  of  a  workman 
to  recover  compensation  in  respect  of  a  disease  to  which  this  section 
does  not  apply,  if  the  disease  is  a  personal  injury  by  accident  within 
the  meaning  of  this  Act. 

IX 

(1)  This  Act  shall  not  apply  to  persons  in  the  naval  or  military 
service  of  the  Crown,  but  otherwise  shall  apply  to  workmen  employed 
by  or  under  the  Crown  to  whom  this  Act  would  apply  if  the  employer 
were  a  private  person: 

Provided  that  in  the  case  of  a  person  employed  in  the  private 
service  of  the  Crown,  the  head  of  that  department  of  the  Royal  House- 
hold in  which  he  was  employed  at  the  time  of  the  accident  shall  be 
deemed  to  be  his  employer. 

(2)  The  Treasury  may,  by  a  warrant  laid  before  Parliament, 
modify  for  the  purposes  of  this  Act  their  warrant  made  under  section 
one  of  the  Superannuation  Act,  1887,  and  notwithstanding  anything 
in  that  Act,  or  any  such  warrant,  may  frame  schemes  with  a  view  to 
their  being  certified  by  the  Registrar  of  Friendly  •Societires  under  this 
Act. 


346  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

X 

(1)  The  Secretary  of  State  may  appoint  such  legally  qualified 
medical  practitioners  to  be  medical  referees  for  the  purposes  of  this 
Act  as  he  may,  with  the  sanction  of  the  Treasury,  determine,  and  re- 
muneration of,  and  other  expenses  incurred  by,  medical  referees  under 
this  Act  shall,  subject  to  regulations  made  by  the  Treasury,  be  paid 
out  of  moneys  provided  by  Parliament. 

Where  a  medical  referee  has  been  employed  as  a  medical  practi- 
tioner in  connection  with  any  case  by  or  on  behalf  of  an  employer  or 
workman  or  by  any  insurers  interested,  he  shall  not  act  as  medical 
referee  in  that  case. 

(2)  The  remuneration  of  an  arbitrator  appointed  by  a  judge  of 
the  county  courts  under  the  Second  Schedule  to  this  Act  shall  be  paid 
out  of  moneys  provided  by  Parliament  in  accordance  with  regulations 
made  by  the  Treasury. 

XI 
(1)  If  it  is  alleged  that  the  owners  of  any  ship  are  liable  as 
such  owners  to  pay  compensation  under  this  Act,  and  at  any  time  that 
ship  is  found  in  any  port  or  river  of  England  or  Ireland,  or  within 
three  miles  of  the  coast  thereof,  a  judge  of  any  court  of  record  in 
England  or  Ireland  may,  upon  its  being  shown  to  him  by  any  person 
applying  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  the  court  that  the  owners  are 
probably  liable  as  such  to  pay  such  compensation,  and  that  none  of  the 
owners  reside  in  the  United  Kingdom,  issue  an  order  directed  to  any 
oflScer  of  customs  or  other  officer  named  by  the  judge  requiring  him 
to  detain  the  ship  until  such  time  as  the  owners,  agent,  master,  or 
consignee  thereof  have  paid  such  compensation,  or  have  given  security, 
to  be  approved  by  the  judge,  to  abide  the  event  of  any  proceedings  that 
may  be  instituted  to  recover  such  compensation  and  to  pay  such  com- 
pensation and  costs  as  may  be  awarded  thereon;  and  any  officer  of  cus- 


workmen's  compensation  act,  1906  347 

toms  or  other  officer  to  whom  the  order  is  directed  shall  detain  the 
ship  accordingly. 

(2)  In  any  legal  proceeding  to  recover  such  compensation,  the 
person  giving  security  shall  be  made  the  defendant,  and  the  produc- 
tion of  the  order  of  the  judge,  made  in  relation  to  the  security,  shall 
be  conclusive  evidence  of  the  liability  of  the  defendant  to  the  proceed- 
ing. 

(3)  Section  six  hundred  and  ninety-two  of  the  Merchant  Shipping 
Act,  1894,  shall  apply  to  the  detention  of  a  ship  under  this  Act  as  it 
applies  to  the  detention  of  a  ship  under  that  Act,  and,  if  the  owner  of 
a  ship  is  a  corporation,  it  shall  for  the  purposes  of  this  section  be 
deemed  to  reside  in  the  United  Kingdom  if  it  has  an  office  in  the 
United  Kingdom  at  which  service  of  writs  can  be  effected. 

XII 

(1)  Every  employer  in  any  industry  to  which  the  Secretary  of 
State  may  direct  that  this  section  shall  apply  shall,  on  or  before  such 
day  in  every  year  as  the  Secretary  of  State  may  direct,  send  to  the 
Secretary  of  State  a  correct  return  specifying  the  number  of  injuries 
in  respect  of  which  compensation  has  been  paid  by  him  under  this 
Act  during  the  previous  year,  and  the  amount  of  such  compensation, 
together  with  such  other  particulars  as  to  the  comi)ensation  as  the  Secre- 
tary of  State  may  direct,  and  in  default  of  complying  with  this  sec- 
tion shall  be  liable  on  conviction  under  the  Summary  Jurisdiction 
Acts  to  a  fine  not  exceeding  five  pounds. 

(2)  Any  regulations  made  by  the  Secretary  of  State  containing 
such  directions  as  aforesaid  shall  be  laid  before  both  Houses  of  Par- 
liament as  soon  as  may  be  after  they  are  made. 

XIII 
In  this  Act,  unless  the  context  otherwise  requires, — 

"Employer"  includes  any  body  of  persons  corporate  or  incorpo- 


348  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND  RELIEF 

rate  and  the  legal  personal  representative  of  a  deceased  em- 
ployer, and  where  the  services  of  a  workman  are  temporarily- 
lent  or  let  on  hire  to  another  person  by  the  person  with  whom 
the  workman  has  entered  into  a  contract  of  service  or  ap- 
prenticeship, the  latter  shall,  for  the  purposes  of  this  Act,  be 
deemed  to  continue  to  be  the  employer  of  t\e  workman  whilst 
he  is  working  for  that  other  person; 
"Workman"  does  not  include  any  person  employed  otherwise 
than  by  way  of  manual  labor  whose  remuneration  exceeds 
two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  a  year,  or  a  person  whose  em- 
ployment is  of  a  casual  nature  and  who  is  employed  otherwise 
than  for  the  purposes  of  the  employer's  trade  or  business,  or 
a  member  of  a  police  force,  or  an  out-worker,  or  a  member 
of  the  employer's  family  dwelling  in  his  house,  but,  save  as 
aforesaid,  means  any  person  who  has  entered  into  or  works 
under  a  contract  of  service  or  apprenticeship  with  an  em- 
ployer, whether  by  way  of  manual  labor,  clerical  work,  or 
otherwise,  and  whether  the  contract  is  expressed  or  implied, 
or  oral  or  in  writing; 

Any  reference  to  a  workman  who  has  been  injured  shall,  where 
the  workman  is  dead,  include  a  reference  to  his  legal  per- 
sonal representative  or  to  his  dependants  or  other  persons  to 
whom  or  for  whose  benefit  compensation  is  payable; 

"Dependants"  means  such  of  the  members  of  the  workman's 
family  as  were  wholly  or  in  part  dependent  upon  the  earnings 
of  the  workman  at  the  time  of  his  death,  or  would  but  for  the 
incapacity  due  to  the  accident  have  been  so  dependent,  and 
where  the  workman,  being  the  parent  or  grandparent  of  an 
illegitimate  child,  leaves  such  a  child  so  dependent  upon  his 
earnings,  or,  being  an  illegitimate  child,  leaves  a  parent  or 
grandparent  so  dependent  upon  his  earnings,  shall  include 
such  an  illegitimate  child  and  parent  or  grandparent  respec- 
tively. 


workmen's  compensation  act,  1906  349 

"Members  of  a  family"  means  wife  or  husband,  father,  mother, 
grandfather,  grandmother,  step-father,  step-mother,  son  daugh- 
ter, grandson,  grand-daughter,  step-son,  step-daughter,  brother, 
sister,   half-brother,  half-sister; 

**Ship,"  "vessel,"  "seaman,"  and  "port"  have  the  same  meaning 
as  in  the  Merchant  Shipping  Act,  1894; 

**Manager,"  in  relation  to  a  ship,  means  the  ship's  husband  or 
other  person  to  whom  the  management  of  the  ship  is  en- 
trusted by  or  on  behalf  of  the  owner; 

"Police  force"  means  a  police  force  to  which  the  Police  Act, 
1890,  or  the  Police  (Scotland)  Act,  1890,  applies,  The  City  of 
London  Police  Force,  The  Royal  Irish  Constabulary,  and  The 
Dublin  Metropolitan  Police  Force; 

**Outworker"  means  a  person  to  whom  articles  or  materials  are 
given  out  to  be  made  up,  cleaned,  washed,  altered,  ornamented, 
finished,  or  repaired,  or  adapted  for  sale,  in  his  own  home 
or  on  other  premises  not  under  the  control  or  management  of 
the  person  who  gave  out  the  materials  or  articles. 

The  exercise  and  performance  of  the  powers  and  duties  of  a 
local  or  other  public  authority  shall,  for  the  purposes  of  this 
Act  be  treated  as  the  trade  or  business  of  the  authority; 

"County  Court,"  "judge  of  the  county  court,"  "registrar  of  the 
county  court,"  "plaintiff,"  and  "rules  of  court,"  as  respects 
Scotland,  means  respectively  sheriff  court,  sheriff,  sheriff  clerk, 
pursuer,  and  act  of  sederunt. 

XIV 

In  Scotland,  where  a  workman  raises  an  action  against  his  em- 
ployer independently  of  this  Act  in  respect  of  any  injury  caused  by 
accident  arising  out  of  and  in  the  course  of  the  employment,  the 
action,  if  raised  in  the  sheriff  court  and  concluding  for  damages  under 
the  Employers'  Liability  Act,  1880,  or  alternatively  at  common  law  or 
under  the  Employers'  Liability  Act,  1880,  shall,  notwithstanding  any- 


350        ACCIDENT  PREVENTION  AND  RELIEF 

thing  contained  in  that  Act,  not  be  removed  under  that  Act  or  other- 
wise to  the  Court  of  Sessions,  nor  shall  it  be  appealed  to  that  court 
otherwise  than  by  appeal  on  a  question  of  law;  and  for  the  purposes 
of  such  appeal  the  provisions  of  the  Second  Schedule  to  this  Act  in 
regard  to  an  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  sheriff  on  any  question 
of  law  determined  by  him  as  arbitrator  under  this  Act  shall  apply. 

XV 

(1)  Any  contract  (other  than  a  contract  substituting  the  provis- 
ion of  a  scheme  certified  under  the  Workmen's  Compensation  Act, 
1897,  for  the  provisions  of  that  Act)  existing  at  the  commencement 
of  this  Act,  whereby  a  workman  relinquishes  any  right  to  compensa- 
tion from  the  employer  for  personal  injury  arising  out  of  and  in  the 
course  of  his  employment,  shall  not,  for  the  purposes  of  this  Act,  be 
deemed  to  continue  after  the  time  at  which  the  workman's  contract  of 
service  would  determine  if  notice  of  the  determination  thereof  were 
given  at  the  commencement  of  this  Act. 

(2)  Every  scheme  under  the  Workmen's  Compensation  Act,  1897, 
in  force  at  the  commencement  of  this  Act  shall,  if  re-certified  by  the 
Registrar  of  Friendly  Societies,  have  effect  as  if  it  were  a  scheme  under 
this  Act. 

(3)  The  Registrar  shall  re-certify  any  such  scheme  if  it  is  pro- 
posed to  his  satisfaction  that  the  scheme  conforms,  or  has  been  so 
modified  as  to  conform,  with  the  provisions  of  this  Act  as  to  schemes. 

(4)  If  any  such  scheme  has  not  been  so  re-certified  before  the 
expiration  from  the  commencement  of  this  Act,  the  certificate  shall  be 
revoked. 

XVI 

(1)  This  Act  shall  come  into  operation  on  the  first  day  of  July, 
nineteen  hundred  and  seven,  but,  except  so  far  as  it  relates  to  refer- 
ences to  medical  referees,  and  proceedings  consequential  thereon, 
shall  not  apply  in  any  case  where  the  accident  happened  before  the 
commencement  of  this  Act. 


WORKMEN^S  COMPENSATION  ACT,  1906  351 

(2)  The  Workmen's  Compensation  Acts,  1897  and  1900,  are  here- 
by repealed,  but  shall  continue  to  apply  to  cases  where  the  accident 
happened  before  the  commencement  of  this  Act,  except  to  the  extent 
to  which  this  Act  applies  to  those  cases. 

XVII 

This  Act  may  be  cited  as  the  Workmen's  Compensation  Act,  1906. 


II 

SCHEME  ESTABLISHED  IN  SUBSTITUTION  FOR  THE  PROVISIONS 

OF  THE  WORKMEN'S  COMPENSATION  ACT,  1906,  BY  THE 

GREAT  EASTERN  RAILWAY  COMPANY 

The  Great  Eastern  Railway  Accident  Fund  (hereinafter  called 
"the  Fund")  shall  be  managed  by  a  committee  (hereinafter  called 
"the  Committee")  consisting  of  the  chairman  of  the  Great  Eastern 
Railway  Company  (hereinafter  called  "the  Company")  the  deputy- 
chairman,  the  chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee,  the  general 
manager  and  the  secretary  of  the  Company  and  one  other  officer  to 
be  appointed  from  time  to  time  by  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the 
Company,  and  five  servants  of  the  Company,  being  members  of  the 
Fund  (hereinafter  called  "the  elective  members"),  two  of  whom  shall 
be  elected  by  the  delegates  of  the  Great  Eastern  Railway  New  Pen- 
sion Fund  from  among  their  number,  one  by  and  from  the  delegates 
of  the  Great  Eastern  Railway  New  Pension  Supplemental  Fund,  one 
by  and  from  the  committee  of  management  of  the  Great  Eastern  Rail- 
way Provident  Society,  and  one  by  and  from  the  committee  of  man- 
agement of  the  Great  Eastern  Railway  Employees'  Sick  and  Orphan 
Society,  and  in  accordance  with  rules  (not  inconsistent  with  the 
terms  of  this  scheme  hereinafter  called  "the  Scheme")  to  be  from 
time  to  time  framed  by  the  committee.  Six  members  of  the  com- 
mittee shall  be  a  quorum. 

353 


354  ACCIDENT  PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

The  Committee  may  appoint  a  secretary  and  any  medical  and 
other  officers  they  may  deem  necessary  who  shall  be  subject  to  re- 
moval at  their  discretion  and  ms-y  fix  the  salaries  of  any  such  secre- 
tary, medical  and  other  officers  and  such  salaries  together  with  the 
cost  of  stationery,  printing,  postages  and  clerical  aid  required  for 
the  purposes  of  the  Fund  shall  be  paid  as  to  two-thirds  thereof 
out  of  the  revenues  of  the  Company  and  as  to  the  remaining  one- 
third  thereof  out  of  the  contributions  of  the  members. 

Any  servant  of  the  Company  (whether  employed  by  them  solely 
or  jointly  with  any  other  Railway  Company  if  appointed  by  the  Great 
Eastern  Company)  shall  be  entitled  to  become  a  member  of  the  Fund 
upon  making  application  for  the  purpose.  It  shall  not  be  compulsory 
upon  any  servant  to  join  the  Fund.  Any  member  thereof  may  at 
his  discretion  withdraw  from  membership  at  any  time  upon  giving 
seven  days'  notice  in  writing  to  the  secretary'  of  the  Fund.  Provided 
that  upon  the  expiration  of  such  notice  the  member  so  withdrawing 
shdll  cease  to  have  any  claim  or  interest  in  the  Fund  or  to  be  entitled 
to  any  benefit  therefrom  or  thereunder  in  respect  of  any  injury  sus- 
tained after  such  expiration  and  shall  have  no  claim  with  regard  to 
any  contributions  which  he  has  made  to  the  Fund  or  with  regard  to 
any  distribution  of  the  Fund  or  to  participate  in  any  balance  thereof. 

The  contributions  payable  to  the  Fund  shall  be  as  follows: — 
I.   By  each  member  Id.  per  week  to  be  deducted  from  his  wages 
(a  part  of  a  week  to  count  as  a  whole  week). 
II.   By   the   Company   out   of   their   own   revenues   the   following 
amounts,  viz.:  — 

(1)  The  full  amount  payable  under  Clause  (A)  set  forth  below 
in  case  of  death. 

(2)  In  case  of  total  incapacity  a  sum  equivalent  to  a  weekly 
payment  during  the  incapacity  not  exceeding  50  per  cent, 
of  the  weekly  earnings  of  the  member,  such  weekly  pay- 
ment not  to  exceed  £1  or  any  increased  weekly  payments 
(not  to  exceed  £1)  which  may  be  made  on  review  by  the 
Committee.    Provided  that 


SCHEME  OF  GREAT  EASTERN  RAILWAY  355 

(a.)  If   the   total   incapacity    lasts    less    than   two   weeks    no 
amount  shall  be  payable  in  respect  of  the  first  week  and 
(b.)  As  regards  the  weekly  payments  during  total  incapacity 
of  a  member  who  is  under  21  years  of  age  at  the  date  of 
the  injury  and  whose  weekly  earnings  are  less  than  20 
shillings,    100   per   cent,    shall   be   substituted   for    50    per 
cent,   of  his   weekly   earnings   but  the  weekly   payment 
shall  in  no  case  exceed  10  shillings. 
(3)  In   case   of  partial   incapacity   the   amount  payable   as   set 
forth  below  under  Clause  (C)  or  Clause  (D)   (3). 
Provided  further  that  after  the  payment  of  a  weekly  sum  for  a 
period  of  six  months  as  hereinafter  mentioned,  if  the  weekly 
payment  shall  be  commuted  by  the  payment  of  a  lump  sum, 
the  amount  payable  by  the  Company  to  the  Fund  shall  be 
such  lump  sum. 
FTJRTHERMORE,  if  the  moneys  of  the  Fund  be  found  insufficient, 
the  Company  guarantees  the  payment  of  every  allowance  payable  un- 
der the  Scheme,  but  if  at  the  end  of  five  and  one-half  years  from  the 
date  from  which  the  Scheme  comes  into  operation  or  if  the  Registrar  of 
Friendly  Societies  shall  have  in  the  meantime  renewed  his  Certificate 
to  the  Scheme  in  the  manner  provided  by  section  3,  sub-section  (2)  of 
the  Workmen's  Compensation  Act,  1906,  then  at  the  expiration  of  the 
period    or    periods    for    which    the    Certificate    to    the    Scheme    shall 
then  or  from  time  to  time  be  so  re-certified  or  if  upon  any  revocation 
of  the  certificate  to  the   Scheme  there  shall  be   a  balance  standing 
to  the  credit  of  the  Fund  after  due  provision  has  been  made  to  dis- 
charge the  liabilities  of  the  Fund,   such  balance  shall  be  distributed 
or  applied  to  such  purpose  and  in  such  manner  as  may  be  agreed 
between  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Company  and  the  elective  mem- 
bers of  the  committee,  or,  in  default  of  agreement,  as  may  be  deter- 
mined by  the  Registrar  of  Friendly  Societies. 

The  allowances  to  be  paid  out  of  the  Fund  shall  be  as  follows:  — 
(A)  In  case  of  the  death  of  a  member  through  an  injury  arising  out 
of  and  in  the  course  of  his  duties  in  the  Company's  service  there 
shall  be  paid: 


356  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

(1)  If  the  member  leaves  any  dependants  wholly  dependent  upon 

his  earnings  at  the  time  of  his  death,  a  sum  equal  to  his 
earnings  in  the  employment  of  the  Company  as  aforesaid 
during  the  three  years  next  preceding  the  injury,  or  the  sum 
of  £150,  whichever  of  those  sums  is  the  larger  but  not  ex- 
ceeding in  any  case  £300,  and  if  the  periot  of  the  member's 
employment  by  the  Company  as  aforesaid  has  been  less  than 
the  said  three  years  then  the  amount  of  his  earnings  during 
the  said  three  years  shall  (subject  to  the  aforesaid  maximum 
of  £300)  be  deemed  to  be  156  times  his  average  weekly  earn- 
ings during  the  period  of  his  actual  employment  under  the 
Company.  Provided  that  the  amount  of  any  payments  made 
to  the  member  under  Clauses  (B)  (C)  or  (D)  below  in  re- 
spect of  sucb  injury  shall  be  deducted  from   such  sum. 

(2)  If    the    member    does    not    leave    any    such    dependants    but 

leaves  any  dependants  in  part  dependent  upon  his  earnings, 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  such  sum  not  exceeding  in  any  case 
the  amount  payable  under  the  foregoing  provisions  as  may 
be  agreed  upon,  or  in  default  of  agreement  as  may  be  deter- 
minded  by  the  committee  to  be  reasonable  and  proportionate 
to  the  injury  to  the  said  dependants. 

(3)  If,  however,  the  member  leaves  no  dependants,  the  reason- 
able expenses  of  his  medical  attendance  and  burial  not  ex- 
ceeding £10  shall  be  paid. 

(B)  In  case  of  total  incapacity  through  an  injury  arising  out  of  and 
in  the  course  of  a  member's  duties  in  the  Company's  service,  there 
shall  be  paid  to  the  member  so  long  as  such  incapacity  shall 
continue,  commencing  from  the  date  of  such  incapacity  but  not 
for  a  longer  period  than  six  months,  a  weekly  sum  equal  to  his 
weekly  earnings,  such  weekly  sum  not  to  exceed  £1. 

(C)  In  case  of  partial  incapacity  through  an  injury  arising  out  of  and 
in  the  course  of  a  member's  duties  in  the  Company's  service,  there 
shall  be  paid  to  the  member  so  long  as  such  partial  incapacity 


SCHEME  OF  GREAT  EASTERN  RAILWAY  357 

shall  continue,  commencing  from  tlie  date  of  such  partial  in- 
capacity, such  a  weekly  sum  not  exceeding  50  per  cent,  of  the 
weekly  earnings  of  the  member  (not  exceeding  £1)  as  the  Com- 
mittee in  their  absolute  discretion  may  determine.  Provided 
that  in  fixing  the  amount  of  such  last-mentioned  sum  regard 
shall  be  had  to  any  wages,  payment,  allowance  or  benefit  which 
the  member  may  receive,  during  the  period  of  his  partial  in- 
capacity, from  the  Company  or  any  other  employer  and  such 
weekly  payment  shall  in  no  case  exceed  the  difference  between 
the  amount  of  the  average  weekly  earnings  of  the  member  before 
the  accident  and  the  average  weekly  amount  which  he  is  earning 
or  is  able  to  earn  in  some  suitable  employment  or  business  after 
the  accident  but  shall  bear  such  relation  to  the  amount  of  that 
difference  as  under  the  circumstances  of  the  case  may  appear 
to  the  committee  to  be  proper. 
(D)  After  the  payment  of  weekly  allowance  for  the  period  of  six 
months  there  shall  in  respect  of  total  or  partial  incapacity  be 
paid  to  the  member: 

(1)  Such  a  lump  sum  as  may  be  agreed  between  himself  and  the 
committee  (subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
of  the  Company). 

Failing  such  agreement  there  shall  be  paid: 

(2)  During  total  incapacity  an  amount  equal  to  one-half  of  the 
member's  weekly  earnings,  not  exceeding  £1  (except  in  the 
case  of  a  member  who  is  under  21  years  of  age  at  the  date 
of  the  injury  and  whose  average  weekly  earnings  are  less 
than  20s.,  when  the  whole  of  such  weekly  earnings  shall 
be  substituted  for  one-half,  but  in  this  case  no  weekly  pay- 
ment shall  exceed  IDs.). 

(3)  During  partial  incapacity  such  weekly  sum  as  may  be  payable 
to  the  member  under  Clause  (C)  above  set  forth. 

(4)  The  directors  of  the  Company  may  at  their  option  at  any 
time  require  the  committee  to  redeem  any  weekly  payment 
by  the  payment  of  a  lump  sum  of  such  an  amount  as,  where 


358  ACCIDENT  PEEVENTIQN  AND  RELIEF 

the  incapacity  is  permanent,  would,  if  invested  in  the  pur- 
chase of  an  immediate  life  annuity  from  the  National  Debt 
Commissioners  through  the  Post  Office  Savings  Bank,  pur- 
chase an  annuity  equal  to  75  per  cent,  of  the  annual  value 
of  the  said  weekly  payment. 
In  the  construction  of  the  Scheme —  t 

The  expression  "weekly  earnings"  means  one-half  of  the  actual 
earnings  of  a  member  during  the  14  days  next  previous  to  the  date 
ol  the  injury  exclusive  of  expenses  or  similar  payments.  Provided 
that  such  earnings  shall  not  be  less  than  the  weekly  wages  of  a 
member  as  recorded  in  the  staff  books  of  the  Company  where  re- 
corded and  in  the  case  of  casual  laborers  shall  be  deemed  to  be  of 
the  same  weekly  amount  as  the  wages  of  other  laborers  of  the  Com- 
pany in  a  similar  grade  of  employment. 

The  expression  "dependants"  means  such  members  of  the  mem- 
ber's family  as  were  wholly  or  in  part  dependent  upon  the  earnings 
of  the  member  at  the  time  of  his  death  or  would  but  for  the  in- 
capacity due  to  the  accident  have  been  so  dependent  and,  where 
the  member  being  the  parent  or  grandparent  of  an  illegitimate  child 
leaves  such  a  child  so  dependent  upon  his  earnings  or  being  an 
illegitimate  child  leaves  a  parent  or  grandparent  so  dependent  upon 
his  earnings,  shall  include  such  an  illegitimate  child  and  parent  and 
grandparent  respectively. 

Any  weekly  payment  under  the  Scheme  may  be  reviewed  by  the 
committee  at  the  request  either  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the 
Company  or  of  the  member,  and  on  such  review  may  be  ended, 
diminished  or  increased,  subject  to  the  before  mentioned  maximum. 
Provided  that  where  the  member  was  at  the  date  of  the  accident  un- 
der 21  years  of  age  and  the  review  takes  place  more  than  12  months 
after  the  accident  the  amount  of  the  weekly  payment  may  be  in- 
creased to  any  amount  not  exceeding  50  per  cent,  of  the  weekly  sum 
which  the  member  would  probably  have  been  earning  at  the  date  of 
the  review  if  he  had  remained  uninjured,  but  not  in  any  case  exceed- 
ing  £1. 


SCHEME  OF  GREAT  EASTERN  RAILWAY  359 

An  allowance  weekly  payment  or  a  sum  paid  by  way  of  redemp- 
tion thereof  under  the  Scheme  shall  not  be  capable  of  being  assigned, 
charged  or  attached  and  shall  not  pass  to  any  other  person  by  opera- 
tion of  law  nor  shall  any  claim  be  set  off  against  the  same. 

If  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee  an  injury  sustained  by  a  mem- 
ber is  attributable  to  serious  and  wilful  misconduct  on  his  part,  any 
compensation  claimed  in  respect  of  that  injury  shall,  unless  the  injury 
results  in  death  or  serious  and  permanent  incapacity,  be  disallowed. 

It  shall  be  within  the  discretion  of  the  committee  to  decide 
whether  or  not  a  member  shall  be  entitled  to  the  payment  of  an  al- 
lowance in  respect  of  any  previous  injury  he  may  have  sustained  if 
after  sustaining  the  injury  he  has  continued  or  resumed  work  for  a 
period  of  one  month. 

The  committee  shall  be  entitled  if  they  think  fit  to  withhold 
any  allowance  or  continued  allowance  if  the  member  shall  refuse 
to  submit  himself  for  examination  by  a  duly  qualified  medical  prac- 
titioner when  and  so  often  as  the  committee  may  require. 

The  committee  shall  be  at  liberty,  in  their  discretion,  to  pay  any 
death  allowance  either  to  the  legal  personal  representative  of  a  de- 
ceased member  or  to  any  person  to  whom  he  may  have  bequeathed 
the  same  by  will  or  codicil  or  to  dependants  of  his.  And  in  the  last- 
mentioned  case,  notwithstanding  that  the  deceased  member  may 
have  a  personal  representative  or  may  by  will  or  codicil  have  be- 
queathed the  allowance,  when  any  allowance  has  once  been  paid  to 
a  person  to  whom  the  committee  have  thought  fit  to  pay  the  same, 
neither  the  committee  nor  the  Fund  nor  the  Company  nor  any  other 
Railway  Company  who  are  joint  undertakers  with  the  Company,  shall 
be  liable  to  any  further  claim  in  respect  of  the  injury  on  account  of 
which  such  allowance  was  paid. 

The  committee  may,  if  they  think  fit,  invest  in  such  manner  as  they 
may  decide,  any  moneys  payable  to  minors  during  the  minority  of 
such  minors  and  may  apply  any  such  moneys  or  the  proceeds  thereof 
for  the  benefit  of  such  minors  in  such  manner  as  they  think  fit. 


360  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

Any  question  with  regard  to  what  is  an  injury  within  the  mean- 
ing of  that  term  as  used  in  the  Scheme,  as  to  who  are  dependants, 
as  to  which  dependants  are  entitled  to  receive  payments  due  from 
the  Fund,  and  the  amount  or  amounts  of  such  payments,  shall  be  de- 
termined by  the  committee. 

If  ^ny  question  (other  than  such  as  the  committee  or  the  Board 
of  Directors  of  the  Company  are  hereby  expressly  empowered  to  de- 
cide) shall  arise  with  respect  to  the  Scheme  or  the  right  to  aUer 
the  amount  or  duration  of  an  allowance  thereunder  or  with  respect 
to  the  construction  or  meaning  of  the  Scheme  or  the  rules  framed 
in  connection  therewith  or  any  variation  or  alteration  thereof  re- 
spectively, such  question  shall  be  settled  by  the  committee  whose 
decision  shall  be  final  and  conclusive. 


SCHEME  OF  GREAT  EASTERN  RAILWAY  361 

RULES     MADE     BY     THE     COMMITTEE     MENTIONED     IN     THE 

FOREGOING  SCHEME  FOR  THE  MANAGEMENT  OF  THE 

GREAT    EASTERN    RAILWAY    ACCIDENT    FUND 

DEFINITIONS 

1.  In  the  interpretation  of  these  rules  the  following  words  and 
expressions  shall  have  the  following  meanings  unless  excluded  by  the 
context: — 

"The  Fund"  shall  mean  the  Great  Eastern  Railway  Accident  Fund. 

"The  Scheme"  shall  mean  the  foregoing  Scheme. 

"The  Company"  shall  mean  the  Great  Eastern  Railway  Company. 

"Servant"  shall  mean  any  servant  of  the  Company,  whether  em- 
ployed by  them  solely  or  jointly  with  any  other  Railway  Company, 
if  appointed  by  the  Company. 

"Dependants"  shall  mean  such  members  of  the  member's  family 
as  were  wholly  or  in  part  dependent  upon  the  earnings  of  the  member 
at  the  time  of  his  death  or  would  but  for  the  incapacity  due  to  the 
accident  have  been  so  dependent  and,  where  the  member  being  the 
parent  or  grandparent  of  an  illegitimate  child  leaves  such  a  child 
so  dependent  upon  his  earnings  or  being  an  illegitimate  child  leaves 
a  parent  or  grandparent  so  dependent  upon  his  earnings,  shall  include 
such  an  illegitimate  child  and  parent  and  grandparent  respectively. 

"Member  of  a  Family"  shall  mean  wife  or  husband,  father,  mother, 
grandfather,  grandmother,  step-father,  step-mother,  son,  daughter, 
grandson,  granddaughter,  step-son,  step-daughter,  brother,  sister,  half- 
brother,  half-sister. 

"Allowance"  shall  mean  and  include  every  payment  provided  by 
the  Scheme  to  be  made  to  any  member  of  the  Fund  or  his  repre- 
sentatives or  dependants. 

"The  Committee"  shall  mean  the  committee  for  the  time  being 
acting  in  the  management  of  the  Fund. 

"Elective  Member  of  the  Committee"  shall  mean  any  one  of  the 
five  servants  of  the  Company  being  members  of  the  Fund,  elected  as 
in  the  Scheme  mentioned. 


362  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

"Month"  shall  mean  calendar  month. 

"Secretary''  shall  mean  the  secretary  for  the  time  being  of  the 
Fund. 

Words  importing  the  singular  number  shall  include  the  plural 
number  and  vice  versa,  and  words  importing  the  masculine  gender 
shall  include  the  feminine  gender.  • 

OFFICE  OF  THE  FUND 

2.  The  office  of  the  Fund  shall  be  at  Liverpool  Street  Station  or 
at  such  other  place  as  may  from  time  to  time  be  substituted  there- 
for by  the  committee. 

MEMBERS 

3.  Every  servant  who  desires  to  become  a  member  shall  testify 
his  desire  by  signing  and  forwarding  to  the  secretary  an  application 
In  the  form  printed  at  the  foot  of  these  rules  or  in  such  other  manner 
as  the  committee  may  from  time  to  time  authorize  or  require.  Upon 
so  testifying  his  desire  the  servant  shall  become  a  member  and  his 
contribution  of  one  penny  per  week  to  the  Fund  to  be  deducted  from 
his  wages  according  to  the  Scheme  shall  immediately  commence. 
Every  person  becoming  a  member  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  free 
of  charge  a  copy  of  the  Scheme  and  of  these  rules  or  other,  the  rules  of 
the  Fund  for  the  time  being  in  force. 

MANAGEMENT 

4.  The  Fund  shall  be  managed  by  the  committee  composed  as 
mentioned  in  the  Scheme. 

5.  Every  elective  member  of  the  committee  (hereinbefore  de- 
fined) shall  cease  to  hold  office  at  the  end  of  two  years  from  the 
date  of  his  election  or  on  his  sooner  ceasing  to  be  one  of  the  body 
whether  delegates  or  committee  by  which  he  is  elected  but  shall 
be  eligible  for  re-election.    On  the  retirement  or  in  case  of  the  death, 


SCHEME  OF  GREAT  EASTERN  RAILWAY  363 

resignation  or  incapacity  of  any  elective  member  of  the  committee, 
the  body  by  which  he  is  elected  shall  elect  one  of  its  members  in 
his  place  but  the  person  so  elected  to  fill  a  vacancy  caused  by  death, 
voluntary  resignation  or  incapacity  shall  hold  office  only  so  long 
as  the  person  in  whose  place  he  is  appointed  woiild  have  continued 
to  hold  it.  A  retiring  elective  member  of  the  committee  shall  be 
eligible   for  re-election. 

6.  The  continuing  members  for  the  time  being  of  the  committee 
may  act  notwithstanding  any  casual  vacancy  in  their  body  and  not- 
withstanding any  omission  to  fill  up  a  vacancy  caused  by  the  retire- 
ment, death,  resignation  or  incapacity  of  an  elective  member. 

7.  The  chairman  for  the  time  being  of  the  Company  and  in  his 
absence  the  deputy  chairman  and  in  the  absence  of  both,  one  of  the 
members  of  the  committee  present  to  be  chosen  by  those  present, 
shall  act  as  chairman  of  each  or  any  meeting  of  the  committee. 

8.  The  committee  may  meet  as  they  think  fit.  Six  members  shall 
be  a  quorum  and  questions  arising  at  any  meeting  shall  be  de- 
cided by  a  majority  of  the  members  of  the  committee  present.  If 
the  chairman  of  the  Company  be  chairman  of  the  meeting  he  shall 
not  vote  unless  there  be  an  equality  of  votes  of  the  other  members 
present,  in  which  case  he  shall  have  a  casting  vote.  Any  other  per- 
son who  may  be  chairman  of  the  meeting  may  vote  and  in  case  of 
an  equality  of  votes  he  shall  also  have  a  second  or  casting  vote. 
Any  three  members  of  the  committee  of  whom  one  at  least  shall  be  a 
non-elective  member  may  at  any  time  call  a  meeting  of  the  committee. 

POWERS  OF  THE  COMMITTEE 

9.  Before  payment  of  any  allowance  the  committee  shall  be  en- 
titled to  call  for  and  be  furnished  with  such  information  and  par- 
ticulars as  in  their  discretion  they  may  think  necessary  to  establish 
the  validity  of  the  claim. 


364  ACCIDENT  PREVENTION  AND  RELIEF 

10.  Notice  in  writing  of  any  accident  shall  be  given  as  soon  as 
practicable  after  the  happening  thereof  and,  if  reasonably  possible, 
through  the  station  master,  foreman,  or  person  in  authority  under 
whom  the  member  immediately  works,  to  the  secretary. 

Any  such  notice  and  any  claim  for  compensation  made  as  a  result 
of  the  accident  must  comply  with  section  2  of  the  •Workmen's  Com- 
pensation Act  1906,  and  will  be  dealt  with  by  the  committee  in  accord- 
ance with  that  section. 

11.  When  notice  has  been  given  of  an  injury  to  a  member,  the 
member  shall,  if  and  so  often  as  may  be  required  by  the  committee, 
submit  himself  for  examination  by  a  duly  qualified  medical  practi- 
tioner as  provided  in  the  Scheme. 

CUSTODY  OF  MONEYS   OF  THE  FUND 

12.  The  moneys  of  the  Fund  shall  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  Com- 
pany for  the  purposes  of  the  Fund  and  the  Company  shall  be  ac- 
countable to  the  Fund  for  the  same. 

ACCOUNTS 

13.  Accounts  of  the  Fund  shall  be  kept  by  the  secretary  and  shall 
be  open  to  the  Inspection  of  the  members  at  all  reasonable  times  and 
the  Company  shall  cause  such  accounts  to  be  audited  up  to  the 
30th  day  of  June,  1909,  and  up  to  30th  day  of  June  in  each  succeed- 
ing year  by  their  chief  accountant  for  the  time  being  and  a  copy 
of  the  accounts  as  so  audited  shall  be  sent  to  every  member  accom- 
panied by  a  copy  of  any  such  report  upon  the  Fund  as  the  committee 
may  consider  necessary. 

ALTERATION  OF  RULES 

14.  The  committee  shall  have  power  from  time  to  time  to  alter, 
vary,  modify,  revoke,  rescind  or  add  to  these  rules  or  other,  the  rules 


SCHEME  OF  GREAT  EASTERN  RAILWAY  365 

for  the  time  being  of  the  Fund,  but  no  alteration  shall  be  made  which 
is  inconsistent  with  or  would  render  the  rules  inconsistent  with  the 
Scheme. 

15.  These  rules  shall  come  in  operation  as  on  and  from  the  1st  day 
of  July,  1909. 

16.  If  and  so  far  as  any  of  these  rules  is  inconsistent  with  the 
Scheme  such  rule  shall  be  of  no  force  or  effect. 

Form  of  Application  for  MembersTiip 

GREAT  EASTERN  RAILWAY  ACGIE^NT  FUND 

Department    

Station    

Date 

To  the  Great  Eastern  Railway  Company, 

I  desire  to  become  a  member  of  the  Great  Eastern  Railway  Acci- 
dent Fund  upon  the  terms  of  the  Scheme  certified  by  the  Registrar 
of  Friendly  Societies  and  I  authorize  the  deduction  from  my  wages 
of  one  penny  per  week  as  my  contribution  to  the  said  Fund  and  I 
agree  with  the  Great  Eastern  Railway  Company  as  follows:  — 

(a)  That  the  provisions  of  the  said  Scheme  shall  be  substituted 
for  the  provisions  of  the  Workmen's  Compensation  Act  1906 
a^  regards  any  claims  which  I  or  any  persons  claiming  under 
me  or  my  dependants  may  have  for  compensation  under  the 
said  Act. 

(b)  That  in  any  case  in  which  I,'  or  persons  claiming  under  me, 
make  any  claim  under  or  by  reason  of  the  provisions  of  the 
Employers'  Liability  Act  1880  or  any  Act  or  Acts  amending 
the  same  or  at  common  law,  I  will  accept  the  contribution 
agreed  to  be  made  by  the  Railway  Company  under  the  said 
Scheme  and  any  compensation  or  provision  which  may  be 
allotted  to  me  under  the  said  Scheme  in  satisfaction  of  any 


366  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

such  claim  so  made  by  me  or  persons  claiming  under  me  as 
aforesaid. 

Signature    

Check    No 

Occupation    

Residence    § 

Witness  to  Signature — 

I  agree  on  behalf  of  the  Great  Eastern  Railway  Company. 

Signed     

Station  Master,  Foreman,  or  person  in  authority,   under  whom  the 
proposed  member  immediately  works. 


REPORT  OF  THE  MANAGING  COMMITTEE  AND  STATEMENT  OF 

ACCOUNTS 

To  30th  June,  1910 

The  Committee  herewith  submit  to  the  Members  of  the  Fund  a 
statement  of  the  Accounts  of  the  Fund  for  twelve  months  ending  30th 
June,  1910. 

During  the  year,  the  total  number  of  claims  was  3,164,  including 

16  in  regard  to  accidents  that  terminated  fatally. 

The  allowance  due  in  respect  of  the  16  fatal  accidents  was  paid  as 
follows: 
In  11  cases  to  persons  wholly  dependent £2,016        12        7 

In  4  cases  to  persons  partially   dependent 102  0        0 

In  1  case  to  persons  non-dependent 10  0        0 

There  was  also  paid  £56  9s.  lOd.  by  weekly  allowances. 

The  number  of  members  on  30th  June,  1910,  was  29,152. 

By  order  of  the  Committee,  G.  F.  Thurston,  Secretary. 


SCHEME  OF  GREAT  EASTERN  RAILWAY  367 

GREAT    EASTERN    RAILWAY    ACCIDENT    FUND 
Statement  of  Accounts  Year  ending  30th  June,  1910 

RECEIPTS                                  £  s.  d. 

Balance  30th  June,  1909 2,451  10  1 

Contributions   by   Members    6,109      0  6 

Contributions  by  Company  on  account  of  Fatal  Accidents     2,185      2  5 
Contributions     by     Company     on     account     of     total 

incapacity   7,554      8  0 

Contributions  by   Company  on    account   of   partial   in- 
capacity and  commutations 225  16  7 

£18,525  17  7 

DISBURSEMENTS 

Amounts  paid: —                                                                           £  s,  d. 

On  account  of  Weekly  Allowance   11,899  15  11 

On  account  of  Fatal  Accidents 2,185      2  5 

On  account  of  partial  incapacity  and  commutations 225  16  7 

On  account  one-third    of  expenses  of  management 380      0  11 

By  Balance 3,835      1  9 

£18,525  17  7 

16th  July,  1910.  Audited  and  found  correct, 

A.  E.  DOLDEN. 


Ill 


STATEMENTS  MADE  BEFORE  DEPARTMENTAL  COMMITTEE 

1904,  RESPECTING  THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  ACT  OF  1897, 

UPON  THE  EMPLOYMENT  OF  ELDERLY 

AND  DEFECTIVE  WORKMEN 

Mr.  Stevenson,  Secretary  of  the  United  Builders'  Labourers'  Union, 
said,  in  answer  to  the  question: 

2612.  You  say  here  that  the  Act  has  operated  unfavorably  towards 
the  old  and  weak? 

Yes.  Not  only  do  I  experience  it  in  my  own  society,  but  as  a 
member  of  a  Board  of  Guardians  as  well,  I  am  continually  in  contact 
with  men  who  unfortunately  have  to  seek  the  refuge  of  the  "house." 
On  inquiry  being  made,  especially  in  certain  work,  it  has  been  found 
that  questions  have  been  put  to  them  with  regard  to  their  physical 
condition,  especially  since  the  House  of  Lords  has  given  a  decision 
that  ordinary  physical  disability  is  not  a  bar  to  a  man  getting  com- 
pensation, even  though  he  may  meet  with  an  injury  when  it  is  known 
at  the  time  that  he  is  suffering  from  some  disability.  I  find  in  those 
cases  that  the  inquiries  as  to  the  physical  conditions  of  the  men  ar$ 
beginning  to  get  more  stringent. 

Mr.  Wilson,  M.  P.,  Secretary  of  the  Durham  Miners'  Association, 
sums  up  his  views  on  this  important  question  thus: 

8546.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that,  this  to  me  is  one  of 
the  greatest  dangers.  It  is  an  indirect  influence  that  cannot  be  mea- 
sured, because  practical  men  will  tell  you,  and  I  have  no  hesitation 
in  saying  it,  that  a  very  large  number  of  these  cases  discharged 
would  not  have  been  discharged,  had  it  not  been  for  the  Compensation 
Act.  Now,  in  these  times  the  Workmen's  Compensation  Act  is  begin- 
ning to  tell,  owing  to  our  getting  into  bad  times. 


370  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

Mb.  Cummings,  of  the  Boiler  Makers'  and  Iron  and  Steel  Ship- 
builders' Society,  says: 

But  the  great  difficulty  we  have  had  to  face  just  now  in  our  trade 
is  the  disinclination,  and  in  some  cases  the  absolute  refusal  on  the 
part  of  some  insurance  companies  to  accept  any  risk  under  any  con- 
ditions whatever  of  men  who  have  been  maimed  with  the  loss  of  a 
leg,  arm,  or  eye.  I  am  glad  to  say  that  the  Iro«  Trade  Employers' 
Insurance  Company  do  not  act  as  other  insurance  companies  have 
done  in  this  matter.  It  is  a  serious  matter  to  us,  because  we  have 
got  many  hundred  one-eyed  men.  There  are  a  tremendous  lot  of  one- 
eyed  men  in  our  trade,  as  some  portions  of  the  work  are  exceedingly 
dangerous  to  the  eyes.  That  has  caused  a  discharge  in  certain  direc- 
tions of  a  quantity  of  one-eyed  men.  I  came  across  one  in  Scotland  last 
week  who  had  been  twenty-five  years  working  for  his  employer  with 
one  eye,  and  now  has  had  to  be  discharged,  although  he  is  just  as 
fit  now  to  do  the  work  as  ever.  Where  there  is  no  sympathetic  affec- 
tion setting  in  from  the  loss  of  one  eye  it  has  been  proved  that  a  man 
is  able  to  earn  just  as  much  at  piece  work — a  system  general  with 
us — as  he  did  before. 

I  should  like  to  say  that  the  injustice  of  the  matter  is  marked, 
seeing  that  in  a  case  in  Scotland  five  one-eyed  men  were  subpoenaed 
to  give  evidence  stating  their  ability  to  work  at  their  trade  in  order  to 
prevent  another  man  obtaining  full  compensation  who  had  lost  an 
eye.  Now  these  man  are  being  discharged.  One  employer  I  saw  at 
Tyneside,  who  had  insured  with  an  insurance  company  which  re- 
fused to  accept  any  such  risk,  deplored  the  fact  to  me;  he  told  me  that 
even  if  he  paid  cent  per  cent  they  the  (insurance  company)  would 
not  accept  any  risk. 

This  is  a  copy  of  the  exact  clause:  "It  is  hereby  understood  and 
agreed  that  this  policy  does  not  cover  the  risk  of  accident  to  six 
employees  who  are  permanently  disabled  through  the  loss  of  an  eye, 
and  one  employe  who  is  permanently  disabled  through  the  loss  of  a 
leg."  Five  out  of  those  six  one-eyed  men  proved  to  be  our  people; 
among  all  the  other  trades  there  was  only  one  who  had  lost  an  eye 
in  that  employment. 


EFFECT  OF  ACT  OF  1897  371 

So  Mk.  Binns,  General  Manager  of  the  Midland  Colliery  Owners' 
Mutual  Indemnity  Company: 

With  regard  to  the  employment  of  maimed  persons,  the  Act  has 
had  great  influence  on  this  class  of  employment,  because  employers 
cannot  afford  the  risk  of  setting  on  men  who  might,  by  some  slight 
accident,  become  permanently  incapacitated.  A  workman  employed 
by  one  member  of  the  association,  within  a  few  hours  of  the  Act 
coming  into  force,  had  an  eye  destroyed.  It  was  then  found,  for 
the  first  time,  that  his  other  eye  had  been,  for  some  time,  blind,  and 
the  man  was  thus  incapacitated  for  life.  Employers  cannot  afford 
the  risk  of  taking  on  maimed  men  whom  they  might  otherwise  be  very 
willing  to  take  on. 

Mr.  Taylor,  Secretary  of  the  Cotton  Trade  Insurance  Association, 
says: 

It  is  only  since  July  of  this  year  that  we  have  begun  to  take 
steps  to  dispense  with  people  who  are  infirm  or  who  have  ailments. 
I  gave  instructions  to  stop  a  man  who  was  only  fifty  years  of  age  last 
week  who  was  suffering  from  varicose  veins  in  his  legs.  If  this  man 
by  some  means  or  other  knocked  a  leg  against  some  machinery  in  his 
mill  he  might  easily  bleed  to  death,  and  we  should  be  liable  for  it. 
We  are  bound  to  stop  these  people.  We  have  not  taken  any  notice 
of  it  for  the  first  few  years,  but  now  we  are  bound  to  take  steps  to 
stop  it.  During  the  next  few  years,  if  they  are  allowed  to  contract 
out,  there  will  be  a  good  many  aged  persons  put  out  of  work,  and 
those  who  have  any  ailment  or  who  are  cripples.  I  have  a  man  in  my 
mind  now  who  is  blind  of  one  eye — an  overlooker  in  a  mill.  We  shall 
certainly  have  to  dispense  with  him  before  very  long.  I  shall  give 
instructions  to  dispense  with  him  in  the  next  week  or  two,  and  any- 
one I  find  of  that  description.    There  are  a  great  many  of  these  cases. 

Mr.  Copley,  Secretary  of  the  National  Amalgamated  Union  of  En- 
glnemen  of  Great  Britain,  mentions  a  case  where  a  shunter  had  his 
right  leg  taken  off,  and,  after  having  been  supplied  with  a  cork  leg, 
his  employers  offered  him  employment  as  locomotive  driver  at  higher 


372  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

wages  than  he  had  before,  and  he  was  employed  in  this  capacity,  being 

quite  capable  of  doing  the  work,  for  two  years. 

Unfortunately  the  insurance  company  step  in,  and  they  refuse  to 
be  liable  any  longer  for  any  compensation  if  he  is  kept  in  their  em- 
ployment. The  firm,  of  course,  approached  him  with  the  idea  that 
he  should  contract  out  of  the  Act.  He  sought  advice  from  me,  and 
I  said,  according  as  I  understood  the  Act,  an  individual  person  could 
not  contract  out  of  it,  but  the  foreman  told  him  that  he  could  not  go 
on  in  their  employment  any  longer  unless  he  did  contract  out  of  the 
Act.  He  got  fourteen  days'  notice,  and  now  he  is  practically  on  the 
street — with  one  leg  and  out  of  employment.  At  the  time  that  he 
settled  for  commutation  he  got  £150.  Most  of  this  was  spent  to  build 
up  his  constitution,  to  get  him  right,  and  to  buy  him  a  cork  leg  in 
order  to  walk  more  easily.  And  now  he  is  on  the  street  with  no 
income  from  anywhere. 


IV 

STATEMENT  PREPARED  BY  MR.  S.  R.  GLADWELL,  SECRETARY 
THE    IRON  TRADES   EMPLOYERS'  INSURANCE  AS- 
SOCIATION, LTD.,  OUTLINING  PURPOSE  AND 
OPERATION  OF  THAT  ASSOCIATION 

The  Iron  Trades  Employers'  Imurance  Association,  Ltd.,  is  a  mu- 
tual association  of  engineers  and  shipbuilders  who  are  members  of 
the  Engineering  and  Shipbuilding  Employers'  Federation,  and  the  Asso- 
ciation is  not  allowed  to  take  as  members  any  firm  which  is  not  a 
member  of  such  Federation.  The  Engineering  and  Shipbuilding  Em- 
ployers' Federation  is  an  association  of  employers  formed  purely  for 
the  purpose  of  defense  against  workmen's  unions.  The  aim  of  the 
Insurance  Association,  which  is  affiliated  with  the  Federation,  is  to 
manage  the  workmen's  compensation  claims  of  the  employers  at 
the  lowest  possible  cost  consonant  with  humane  and  fair  dealing  with 
the  workmen.  It  is  by  far  the  largest  mutual  society  in  this  country 
undertaking  employers'  liability  insurance,  and  its  experience  affords 
an  exceptional  means  of  estimating  the  risk  with  regard  to  an  im- 
portant class  of  trades.  The  premiums  received  during  1909  amounted 
to  £145,000,  and  the  claims  were  £115,000,  or  approximately  80  per 
cent  of  the  premiums,  while  expenses  were  £14,000,  or  about  10  per 
cent  of  the  premiums.  The  surplus  on  trading  account  for  the  year 
was  nearly  £15,000,  or  more  than  10  per  cent  of  the  premiums.  The 
small  percentage  of  premiums  absorbed  in  expenses  is  always  a 
noticeable  feature  of  the  accounts  and  the  members  of  the  associa- 
tion, therefore,  obtain  protection  as  nearly  at  cost  price  as  is  prac- 
ticable.  Their  experience  during  the  last  seven  years  is  given  in  table 

on  next  page: 

373 


3.       Losses. 

Expenses. 

Percentage 
of  Profit  or 

£ 

£ 

Loss. 

62,856 

9,580 

+  0.6 

73,183 

9,955 

—  7.3 

83,003 

11,176 

—  5.0 

121,422 

11,079 

—13.8 

111,607 

11,576 

_  L3 

210,996 

20,i07 

-f  5.6 

115,439 

13,842 

+10.1 

£778,506 

£87,315 

+  0.1 

374  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

Premiums. 
Received 
£ 

1903    72,834 

1904   77,382 

1905    89,574 

1906   116,376 

1907    121,544 

1908  (18  mos.) 244,925 

1909    144,045 

Totals £866,680 

Totals,  Losses  and  Expenses,    £865,821 

It  will  be  observed  that  premiums  and  claims  with  working  ex- 
penses practically  balance.  It  should  also  be  noted  that  a  new  Com- 
pensation Act  came  into  force  in  July,  1907,  considerably  increasing 
the  liability  of  employers  and,  consequently,  the  premiums.  In  that 
year  the  association  issued  provisional  and  experimental  policies  for 
six  months,  subsequently  extending  them  for  a  further  twelve  months, 
so  that  the  premiums  received  (£244,925)  represent  18  months'  work. 
How  is  this  result  effected? 

Constant  supervision  of  claims  is  exercised  by  inspectors  who  keep 
in  touch  with  injured  workmen.  Continual  efforts  are  made  to  im- 
prove the  employers'  risk  by  the  issue  of  rules  and  regulations,  guard 
notices,  and  various  suggestions,  all  relating  to  the  prevention  of  acci- 
dents. Great  attention  is  paid  to  the  provision  of  proper  first  aid 
treatment  and  periodically  the  doctors  of  the  Association  visit  the 
works  of  each  firm  in  order  to  see  whether  the  first  aid  arrange- 
ments are  in  good  order.  The  aim  of  the  Association  is  not  so  much 
to  have  a  small  hospital  in  the  works  as  to  have  at  one  or  more 
points  (depending  on  the  size  of  the  establishment)  the  simplest 
possible  form  of  bandages,  lotions,  etc.,  which  are  perfectly  aseptic 
and  are  kept  in  places  to  which  dirt  cannot  have  access.  Ambulance 
classes  are  also  encouraged  in  their  works,  and  the  necessity  of 
perfect  surgical  cleanliness  is  insisted  on  at  every  possible  oppor- 
tunity.  The  antiquated  method  of  obtaining  merely  a  sick  club  doc- 
tor's report  every  month  or  two  is  slowly  being  abandoned,  and  the 


IRON  TRADE  INSURANCE  ASSOCIATION  375 

newer  and  better  practice  of  procuring  the  best  possible  medical  treat- 
ment for  the  injured  workman  is  gradually  being  adopted,  the  view 
being  that  if  £100  must  be  spent  it  is  better  to  give  £75  to  the 
doctor  to  thoroughly  repair  the  human  machine  and  make  it  fit  for 
work  again,  giving  the  man  £25  in  weekly  payments  while  he  is  being 
repaired  rather  than  £90  to  the  workman  as  some  miserable  solatium 
for  a  permanent  injury  and  £10  to  the  doctor  for  doing  work  which 
lack  of  time  and  opportunity  prevented  him  doing  effectively.  In 
some  districts  a  doctor  is  employed  whose  sole  business  it  is  to  ex- 
amine and  treat  every  injured  workman,  the  result  being  that  although 
a  larger  number  of  claims  are  called  into  existence  by  the  workman's 
attention  being  called,  by  the  medical  treatment,  to  the  claim  he  has 
under  the  Workmen's  Compensation  Act,  yet  the  time  the  workman 
is  off  work  is  so  reduced  that  the  cost  per  claim  necessarily  shows  a 
considerable  reduction. 

Among  the  many  thousands  of  cases  dealt  with  every  year  by  the 
Association  there  are  a  great  number  which  are  not  bona  fide  and  in 
which  the  workmen  are  undoubtedly  malingerers  and  are  exploiting 
the  employers.  When  the  inspectors  of  the  Association  come  across 
such  cases,  they  report  to  the  head  office  through  the  branch  office 
and,  after  an  impartial  consideration  of  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
case,  if  it  is  found  that  the  inspector's  report  is  borne  out  by  further 
information,  the  name  of  the  man  is  put  upon  a  list  and  all  the 
members  of  the  Association  are  informed  that  such  workman  will  not 
be  insured  under  the  policy.  Naturally,  the  member  looks  to  it  that 
the  man  is  not  allowed  to  be  taken  on  in  his  works  and  a  gradual 
and  very  effective  result  of  such  a  list  of  workmen  is  that  those 
who  are  irreclaimably  bad  are  kept  permanently  out  of  the  shops 
of  the  members  of  the  Association  and  a  better  tone  is  gradually  being 
Introduced  among  the  other  workmen,  with  excellent  effects  not  only 
on  the  cost  of  the  compensation,  but  on  the  morale  of  the  men. 

EiVery  employer  pays  a  standard  rate  of  premium  per  £100  of 
wages  that  prevails  in  his  class  of  manufacture,  but  if,  after  a  short 


376  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

period  it  is  found  that  his  cost  is  lower  than  the  average  cost  of  the 
class,  he  is  entitled  to  receive  consideration  by  means  of  a  lower  rate. 
It  does  not  always  follow,  however,  that  the  mere  fact  that  his  cost  is 
lower  than  the  average  class  cost  is  sufficient  to  qualify  for  a  re- 
duced rate  unless  it  can  be  shown  that  the  normal  cost  has  been 
reduced  by  the  member's  own  efforts.  Every  fatal  ^ase  is  considered 
to  be  a  proper  load  of  the  class  and  where  a  permanent  disablement 
claim  costs  more  than  £50,  the  first  £50  is  debited  to  the  mem- 
ber's record  and  the  whole  of  the  excess  is  debited  to  the  class. 
Every  member  of  the  class,  therefore,  bears  the  cost  of  his  share  of 
the  .fatal  and  permanent  disablement  cases,  but  each  firm  bears  its 
own  cost  as  regards  all  cases  costing  under  £50  per  case.  If,  there- 
fore, an  employer,  by  more  careful  guarding  of  machinery,  but  better 
supervision  of  the  workmen,  by  the  re-arrangement  of  the  machinery, 
by  a  better  system  of  lighting,  or  by  more  complete  methods  of  carry- 
ing, reduces  the  number  and  seriousness  of  accidents  in  the  course 
of  the  year,  he  will  have  considerably  reduced  his  normal  cost  and 
will  also,  in  consequence,  be  entitled  to  a  reduced  rate.  The  extra 
expense  involved  during  the  first  year  in  effecting  these  improvements 
may  be  considerable  and  even  cost  more  than  the  compensation  other- 
wise payable,  but  the  high  class  employer  realizes  that  it  is  best  in 
the  long  run,  even  looking  to  his  own  material  interests  alone,  to 
incur  this  preliminary  expense. 

The  claims  inspectors  of  the  Association  have  specially  favourable 
opportunities  of  seeing  what  other  firms  are  doing  with  regard  to  pre- 
vention of  accidents  and  they  carry  from  one  works  to  another  the 
latest  current  ideas.  They  are  enabled  to  draw  the  attention  of  firms 
to  new  and  improved  arrangements  which  might  prevent  accidents, 
but  it  is,  of  course,  for  the  employer  to  say  whether,  after  balancing 
the  advantages  and  disadvantages,  the  suggested  improvement  will 
interfere  with  the  efficiency  of  the  machine  or  limit  the  output  to 
Buch  an  extent  as  to  show  no  corresponding  advantage  in  the  direc- 
tion of  prevention  of  suffering. 


CANADIAN  INDUSTRIAL  ACCIDENTS 


377 


Department  of  Labour,  Canada, 
Statistical  Tables.  X.  A.  R.,  No.  39. 

STATISTICAL  TABLE  OF  FATAL  INDUSTRIAL  ACCIDENTS  IN 
CANADA  DURING  THE  CALENDAR  YEAR  1909 


Teade  OB  Industey 


NuMBEB  OF  Accidents  Accobding  to  Months 


Agriculture 

Fishing  and  Hunting 

Lumbering 

Mining 

Building  trades 

Metal  trades 

Woodworking  trades 

Printing  trades 

Clothing  trades 

Textile  trades  , 

Food  and  tobacco  prepar- 
ation   

Leather  trades 

Bailway  service 

Navigation ...   

General  transport 

Civic  employes 

Miscellaneous  trades 

Unskilled  labor 


Total. 


Jan.    Feb.  Mar.  Apr.    May  June  July  lug.  Sept.  Oct.    Not.    Deo.      Total 


12 


16 


71  80  79  70  97  130  105  129  94  152  145  127  1,279 


256 
34 
130 
160 
38 
77 
11 

i 

3 


95 
50 
12 
54 
64 


Department  of  Labour,  Canada, 
Statistical  Tables.  X.  A.  R.,  No.  40. 


STATISTICAL  TABLE    OF  NON-FATAL    INDUSTRIAL  ACCIDENTS 
IN  CANADA  DURING  THE  CALENDAR  YEAR  1909 


Teade  oe  Industey 

NuMBEB  OP  Accidents  Accoeding  to  Months 

Jan. 
36 

ii 

4 
11 
20 
11 

i 

1 

5 

1 

20 

5 

9 

8 

11 

10 

Feb. 
24 

is 

7 
5 
30 
14 
6 
1 
3 

8 

17 
3 
7 
3 
9 
5 

Mar. 
24 

19 
4 

8 
40 
9 
5 
2 
1 

14 

1 

23 

1 

12 

11 

11 

9 

Apr. 

24 

5 

11 

8 

13 

43 

13 

4 

4 

2 

2 

19 

5 

17 

1 
8 
7 

«.7 

June 

July 

A-. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Not. 

Dee. 

Total 

Agriculture                

22 

19 
3 

32 

27 

9 

3 
2 

1 

19 
13 

18 
4 
7 
6 

27 

26 
18 
39 
39 
28 
1 

2 

9 

26 
32 
19 

8 
14 

4 

33 

13 

23 

24 

64 

10 

3 

1 

4 

9 

1 
25 

8 
19 

1 
10 
10 

29 

16 

18 

26 

36 

15 

4 

2 

1 

5 

22 
3 

25 
7 

16 
29 

52 

9 

13 

24 

33 

10 

2 

1 

2 

8 

3 
11 

2 
17 

3 
23 
12 

40 

2 

9 

12 

23 

47 

16 

4 

2 

5 

7 
1 
44 
5 
15 
19 
27 
15 

32 

18 

23 

25 

53 

8 

5 

1 

5 

10 

38 
11 
19 
13 
12 
6 

21 

12 

14 

15 

50 

15 

1 

2 

5 

8 

29 
3 

16 

13 
4 

10 

374 

Fishing  and  Hunting 

Lumbering 

Mining .' 

7 
181 
147 

Building  trades 

245 

Metal  trades 

482 

Woodworking  trades 

Printing  trades 

Clothing  trades 

158 
35 
16 

Textile  trades  .... 

35 

Food  and  Tobacco  prepar- 
ation             .          

86 

Leather  trades 

9 

Kailway  service 

293 

Navigation 

General  transport 

Civic  employes.        

91 

193 

91 

Miscellaneous  trades 

Unskilled  labor 

152 
123 

Total  ...   . 

164 

160 

194 

186 

185 

292 

258 

*>64 

225 

oqs 

979 

218 

2.718 

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APPENDIX 

PART  THREE 

Voluntary  Relief  Associations  in   tLe  United  States — A  Descrip- 
tive Account  of  tlie  Practical  Working  of  tlie  Systems 
Adopted  Ly  tlie  International  Harvester  Company, 
Ckeney  Brotkers,  and  tLe  General 
Electric  Company 


APPENDIX 


PART  THREE 


VOLUNTARY  RELIEF  ASSOCIATIONS 

The  effort  of  the   National  Association  of  Manufacturers  to  fur-   National  Relief 

„   .    .        ,  ,        ,  System    Will 

ther  in  the  United  States,  a  national  system  of  injured  workers    re-  ^^^^  interfere 

lief,  must  not,  and  will  not,  interfere  with  the  voluntary  action  of  With  individual 

Employers' 
employers.    Last  year's  inquiry  brought  out  the  fact  that  17  per  cent   Action 

of  the  members  operate  some  sort  of  voluntary  system  of  workers' 

relief  in  their  establishments.    This  percentage  is  increasing  rapidly 

and  voluntary  action  is  by  no  means  restricted  to  members  of  the 

National  Association  of  Manufacturers.     Secretary  of  Commerce  and 

Labor,  the  Hon.  Charles  Nagel,  spoke  understandingly  on  this  subject 

during  a  recent  address  in  Chicago  when  he  said: 

"At  the  present  time  legislation  is  endeavoring  to  formulate 

a   rule   more   in   keeping   with   the   modern   conception   of   the 

true  relation  between  the  employer  and  employe,  and  it  may  be 

Legislation 
justly  said  that  these  changes,  wrought  in  part  by  the  courts,   planned 

and  in  part  by  the  legislature,  are  in  line  with  the  standards   ^.^^^  ^^L' 

bigntea    Jiim- 

which   the  most  far-sighted   proprietors   have    quietly   adopted,   ployers'  Ideas 
*     *     *     Here,   as   everywhere,   our   attention  is   called  to  the 
hardships  as  manifested  in  endless   and  costly  litigation,  and 
we  are  not  unmindful  of  instances  in  which  proprietors  of  their 
own  accord  have  waived  the   technical  rights   of  the  law,   and 

381 


382 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Some 

Employers 
Willing  to  do 
More  than 
Law  Demands 


have  by  their  own  consent  shaped  new  rules  and  customs  afford- 
ing a  larger  measure  of  justice  and  equity  to  their  employes. 
It  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  instance  large  concerns  in  this 
country  which  for  many  years  have  seldom  appeared  in  court 
as  defendants  in  damage  suits.  These  concerns,  actuated,  per- 
haps, by  motives  of  fairness  and  wisdom,  perhaps  in  a  measure 
by  considerations  of  economy,  have  broadly  assumed  that  every 
accident  and  every  injury  upon  their  premises  create  a  pre- 
sumption against  them,  and  that  in  consequence  it  is  for  them 
to  make  compensation  broader,  more  generous,  more  adequate 
and  more  prompt  than  the  letter  of  the  law  seems  to  demand." 

A  few  concrete  statements,  describing  the  systems  in  operation 
In  the  establishments  of  some  of  our  members,  are  appropriate  here 
and  the  courtesy  of  the  International  Harvester  Company,  Cheney 
Brothers,  and  the  General  Electric  Company,  enables  us  to  place  the 
following  valuable  statements  before  our  readers. 


VOLUNTARY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  385 


WORKERS'  RELIEF  AND  PENSION  SYSTEM  OF  THE 
INTERNATIONAL  HARVESTER  G    MPANY 

I 

By  G.  A.  RANNEY 

The  International  Harvester  Company  was  the  first  corporation  in  pij.g^  Corpora- 

the  United  States  to  announce  and  put  into  effect  plans  for  the  com-  H^^  *^  ^^^J?\.  , 

Voluntary  Relief 

plete   protection   of  its   employes.     Other   large   employers   of   labor,   ^^^^ 
especially  the  railroads,  preceded  the  International  Harvester  Company 
with  pension  systems  and  benefit  associations,  but  the  latter  Company 
was  first  to  voluntarily  assume  compensation  for  industrial  accidents. 

Their  activities  along  these  lines  are  divided  into  three  heads, 
namely,  the  Industrial  Accident  Department,  the  Employes'  Benefit 
Association  and  the  Pension  System,  and  a  short  description  of  each 
follows: 

It  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  these  plans  apply  to  all  of  the  Com- 
panies associated  with  the  International  Harvester  Company  and 
cover  a  wide  field  of  industrial  activities. 


INDUSTRIAL   ACCIDENT    DEPARTMENT 

In  the  words  of  the  Company — 

"The  purpose  of  this  plan  is  to  insure  to  employes   at  the  Prompt 

Definite  and 
works,    twine,    steel    and    lumber   mills,    and    on    the    railroads,  Adequate  Com- 

prompt,  definite  and  adequate  compensation  for  injuries  result-  pensation 
ing   from   accidents   occurring   to   them   while   engaged   in   the 
performance  of  their  duties,  and  also  to  provide  compensation 
to  the   widow,   children  and  relatives   who  may  be   dependent 
upon  any  employe  whose  death  results  from  such  accident. 

"The  benefits  provided  for  by  this  plan  will  be  paid  regard- 
less of  legal  liability  on  the  part  of  the  Company  and  no  injured 
employe  will  require  legal  assistance  to  collect  the  money  to 
which  he  is  entitled." 


Benefits 
Increase  as 
Disability  Con- 
tinues 


Amounts 
Paid  Vary 
According  to 
Extent   of 
Injuries 


386  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

The  Company,  without  any  contribution  from  the  employes,  pays 
the  following  compensation  for  personal  injuries  caused  by  accidents 
arising  out  of  and  in  the  course  of  employment: 

1.  Disability  Benefits. 

(a.)  During  the  first  30  days  of  disability,  one-fourth  of  the 
employe's  average  daily  pay.  • 

(b.)  After  the  first  30  days,  half  pay  during  the  continu- 
ance of  disability,  but  not  for  more  than  104  weeks  from  the 
date  of  accident. 

(c.)  These  disability  benefits  are  payable  every  two  weeks 
but  in  no  case  exceed  $20  a  week. 

(d.)  An  employe  who  has  received  benefits  for  104  weeks  and 
who  is  then  totally  disabled,  shall,  so  long  as  his  total  disability 
continues,  be  paid  an  annual  compensation  equal  to  8  per  cent  of 
the  death  benefit  which  would  have  been  payable  had  the  accident 
resulted  in  death;  such  compensation,  however,  shall  not  be 
less  than  $10  per  month,  and  shall  be  payable  monthly. 

(e.)  Disability  benefits  are  based  upon  the  average  daily  wages 
received  during  the  60  days  worked  preceding  the  accident; 
if  employe  worked  less  than  60  days,  then  on  the  average  daily 
wages  received  during  such  period. 

2.  Special  Benefits. 

(a.)  If  the  injury  causes  the  immediate  severing  of,  or  in 
the  opinion  of  the  medical  examiner  or  works'  physician, 
necessitates  the  amputation  of  a  hand  or  foot  at  or  above  the 
wrist  or  ankle,  one  and  one-half  years'  wages,  but  in  no  event 
less  than  $500  nor  more  than  $2,000. 

(b.)  In  case  of  the  loss  of  both  hands  or  both  feet,  or  one 
hand  and  one  foot,  four  years'  average  wages,  but  not  less 
than  $2,000. 

(c.)  In  the  case  of  the  total  and  irrecoverable  loss  of  the 
sight  of  one  eye,   three-fourths   of   the   average   yearly   wages. 


VOLUNTAKY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  387 

(d)  In   the   case   of   the   total   and  irrecoverable   loss   of   the 

sight  of  both   eyes,   four   years'   average   wages,   but   not   less 

than  $2,000. 

3.     Death   Benefits. 

If  the  employe  leaves  a  widow,  child  or  children,  or  other  relatives 

dependent  upon  his  earnings  for  their  support,  benefits  shall  be  paid 

as  follows: 

(a.)    If  death  results  from  accident  before  the  expiration  of 

16   weeks   from   the   date   thereof,   three   years'   average   wages, 

but  not  less  than  $1,500  nor  more  than  $4,000. 

(b.)    If  death  results  from  accident  between  the  end  of  the    Suddenness  of 

Death 
sixteenth  week  and  the  end  of  the  fifty-second  week  after  the   Determines 

,-.     ^         j_  x-i-  Amounts  paid 

date   thereof,   two   years    average   wages    (but   not   more   than  ^^  Dependents 
$3,000),  less  all  disability  benefits  paid. 

(c.)  If  the  employe  leaves  no  widow,  children  or  other  rela- 
tives dependent  upon  him  for  their  support,  then  reasonable 
hospital  and  medical  expenses,  and  a  further  sum  for  funeral 
expenses,  not  less  than  $75  nor  more  than  $100. 

(d.)  No    death    benefits    shall   be    paid   unless    death    results 
within    52    weeks    from    the    date    of    the    accident,    nor    unless 
a  written  claim  shall  be  filed  by  the  executor,  or  administrator 
of  the  deceased   employe  within  three   months   after  the   em- 
ploye's death. 
The  disability  benefits  for  the  first  30   days  of  disability  are  in- 
creased  from    one-fourth   wages   to   one-half   wages,   provided   the   emr 
ployes  contribute  as  follows: 

Employes  earning  $50  or  less  per  month,  six  cents  per  month;    Benefits  in- 

Employes   earning   $50    and   not   more   than    $100,    eight   cents   creased  for 

Employes 

per  month;   and  Contributing 

to  Fund 
Employes  earning  more  than  $100  per  month,  ten  cents  per 

month. 

The  Company  is  committed  to  the  principle  that  the  employe  should 

contribute    something    to    the    benefit    fund,    the    reason    being    that 


Co-operation 
of  Employes 
Desired 


No  Compensa- 
tion for  Acci- 
dents Caused 
by  Workers' 
Misconduct 


Injured  Workers 
Must  Follow 
Directions  of 
Company's 
Physician 


388  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

the  Company  earnestly  desires  the  co-operation  of  its  employes  in 
the  payment  of  benefits  for  the  first  30  days  of  disability,  because 
it  wishes  every  employe  to  assist  in  the  prevention  of  accidents.  The 
Company  has  expended  large  sums  in  safeguarding  machinery  in  an 
effort  to  protect  its  employes,  but  without  the  active  co-operation  of 
the  employes  many  accidents  cannot  be  avoided.  iJnder  this  plan 
the  Company  and  the  employes  equally  divide  the  payment  of  benefits 
during  the  first  30  days  of  disability,  and  thus  every  employe 
becomes  financially  interested  in  guarding  against  accidents  and  in 
seeing  that  his  fellow  workmen  are  equally  careful.  It  is  the  hope 
of  the  Company  that  this  mutual  interest  will  lead  to  active  co- 
operation on  the  part  of  the  employes  and  that  thereby  accidents 
will  be  reduced  to  a  minimum." 

The  Company  does  not  pay  compensation  if  accidents,  resulting  in 
injury  or  death,  result  from  or  are  caused  directly  or  indirectly,  wholly 
or  in  part,  by  the  intoxication,  or  partial  intoxication  of  the  employe, 
or  by  his  failure  to  use  the  safety  appliances  provided  by  the  Company, 
or  by  his  own  gross  or  willful  misconduct. 

The  commencing  of  any  legal  action  whatsoever  against  any  of 
the  companies  associated  in  the  Industrial  Accident  Department,  on 
account  of  such  injury  by  the  employe,  or,  in  the  event  of  his  death, 
by  his  executor,  administrator  or  personal  representative,  bars  any 
right  of  compensation  under  the  plan. 

An  injured  employe,  to  secure  benefits,  must  immediately  give 
notice  or  cause  notice  to  be  given  through  his  timekeeper  of  the 
time  and  place  of  the  accident,  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  injury, 
and  of  his  residence  address;  and  must  submit  immediately  to  a 
physical  examination  by  the  medical  examiner  or  works'  physician 
or  other  physician  designated  by  the  Company,  and  thereafter  strictly 
follow  the  directions  given  by  such  medical  examiner  or  physician. 
The  payment  of  benefits  cease  if  the  injured  employe  refuses  to  fol- 
low the  direction  of  the  medical  examiner  or  other  physician. 


VOLUNTARY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  389 

The  Company  maintains  medical  examiners  at  its  various  works, 
whose  duties  are  to  make  examination  of  injured  employes  and  de- 
cide when  employes  are  disabled  and  when  ahle  to  work. 

All  of  the  operating  expenses  of  the  department  are  paid  by  the   company  Pays 

Operating 
Company  and  no  part  of  the  contributions  from  employes  is  used  to  Expenses 

pay  such  expenses.  The  department  is  managed  by  a  Board  of  Man- 
agement, composed  of  five  members  appointed  by  the  Company.  This 
Board  has  complete  control  of  the  department  and  appoints  its  em- 
ployes, medical  examiners,  etc.,  etc. 

The  International  Harvester  Company  is  earnestly  striving  to  re-  ^^  ,^.      ^   ^^ 

Nothing  Left 

duce  the  number  of  industrial  accidents.    All  of  its  equipment  is  being  Undone  to 

Prevent  Acci- 
properly   safeguarded.      Shop   lighting,   ventilation,    sanitation   and   all  dents 

conditions  affecting  the  life  and  safety  of  its  employes  are  having 
constant  attention  and  such  conditions  are  being  constantly  improved 
and  brought  up  to  a  high  standard. 

A  most  interesting  pamphlet  has  been  published  entitled  "Protec- 
tion Against  Injury."  This  pamphlet  contains  rules  for  the  foremen 
and  also  for  the  workmen  on  how  to  avoid  accidents.  These  rules 
are  grouped  by  departments,  so  that  an  employe,  say,  in  a  foundry, 
does  not  have  to  read  the  whole  book.  This  book  also  contains  pho- 
tographs picturing  the  right  and  wrong  way  to  use   safety   devices,   Pamphlet  on 

Accident  Pre- 

the  object  of  the  pictures  being  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  the  vention  Pub- 
workmen  the  necessity  for  constant  vigilance.  Some  of  these  pic-  Languages 
tures  are  shown  on  pages  following.  This  book  on  "Protection 
Against  Injury"  has  been  published  in  ten  languages,  namely,  English, 
Greek,  Russian,  Polish,  Swedish,  Lithuanian,  Italian,  Bohemian,  Ger- 
man and  Hungarian,  so  there  is  practically  no  excuse  for  any  employe 
who  can  read  to  say  that  he  was  not  advised  of  how  to  avoid  being 
injured. 

The   International  Harvester  Company  pursues  the  subject  of  pro-   ^cpj^jg^t  Pre- 

tection  against  injury  by  an  especially  appointed  man  and  this  work  is   vention  Com- 
pany's Most 

handled  the  same  as  that  of  other  departments  and  is  considered  the   Important 

Problem  Today 
most  important  subject  that  the  Company  has  to  contend  with  today  in 

the  manufacture  of  its  product. 


390 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


FIGURE    n9 


Catching  iron  in  foundry.    The  only  correct  and  safe  way  for  a  foundryman 

to  catch  iron  is  to  cut  the  stream  in  towards  the  furnace. 

The  above  picture  shows  the  correct  way. 


EMPLOYES'   BENEFIT   ASSOCIATION 


Factory-work- 
ers Contribute 
1%  Per  Cent 
of    Wages    to 
Get  Benefits 
If  Injured  off 
Duty 


The  object  of  the  Employes'  Benefit  Association  is  to  create  and 
maintain  a  fund  at  the  least  possible  cost,  which  shall  belong  to  the 
employes,  and  from  which  shall  be  paid  to  the  members  when  dis- 
abled a  certain  income,  and  to  their  families  certain  definite  sums 
in  the  event  of  death.     The  membership  is  divided  into  two  classes: 

Class  B  includes  all  members  employed  at  the  works,  twine,  .steel 
and  lumber  mills,  mines,  and  on  the  railroads.  Members  in  Class  B 
contribute  1%  per  cent  of  the  wages  received  by  them.  They  are  en- 
titled to  receive  disability  benefits  for  sickness  and  for  accidents  re- 
ceived while  oft  duty,  and  their  dependents  are  entitled  to  death  bene- 
fits from  death  resulting  from  the  above  causes.  (Benefits  for  accidents 
received  while  on  duty  are  paid  by  the  Industrial  Accident  Depart- 
ment as  outlined  on  page  386.^ 


VOLUNTARY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


391 


FIGURE   J20 


Oatching  iron  in  foundry.    This  foundryman  placed  his  ladle  in  back  of  the 

stream  and  cut  the  stream  away  from  the  furnace.    This  is  always 

dangerous  and  results  in  many  serious  burns  to  the  feet  and  legs. 


Members  of  Class  A  include  all  other  employes,  namely,  those  in  other  Em- 

ployes    Pay    1  % 
the  general  office  and  in  the  sales  and  collection  departments.     These   p^^  cent  But 

members  contribute  1%  per  cent  of  their  wages  or  salary,  and  are  en-  ^^*  Benefits 

Uncondition- 

titled  to  disability  or  death  benefits  due  to  sickness  or  to  accidents  ally 
either  on  or  off  duty. 

The  contributions  of  all  members  are  based  on  wages  which  mem- 
bers earn  when  working  full  time.  No  contributions  are  made  by  dis- 
abled members  who  are  drawing  benefits.  Members  who  leave  the 
employ  of  the  Company  may  contribute  for  a  death  benefit  only, 
which  contribution  amounts  to  ten  cents  per  month  for  each  one  hun- 
dred dollars  of  death  benefits.  No  member  of  the  Association  is  al- 
lowed to  coiitfibute  on  the  basis  of  a  salary  in  excess  of  $2,000  per 
annum.     The  regulations  provide   for  the  following  benefits: 

Disability  from  sickness,  one-half  wages,  except  for  the  first  seven 
days,  for  a  period  not  longer  than  52  weeks. 


392 


Disability  and 
Death  Benefits 
Paid 


Physical  Ex- 
imination  Re- 
luired  to  Join 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 
FIGURE    J2J 


^^^^m  ^^^^^H  ^^^v    • 


Right  Wrong 

Foiindrymen  should  wear  the  best  shoes  and  pants  for  safety. 

Kind  of  pants  and  shoes  for  foundrymen  to  wear;  hard  cloth    (Jean)  pants 

and  congress  shoes  protect  the  legs  and  feet  from  burns. 

Disability  from  accident,  one-half  wages,  beginning  with  the  date 
of  the  accident,  for  a  period  not  longer  than  52  weeks. 

Death  from  sickness,  one  year's  average  wages. 

Death  from  accident,  two  years'  average  wages. 

Loss  of  one  foot  or  one  hand,  one  year's  average  wages. 

Loss  of  both  hands  or  both  feet  or  one  hand  and  one  foot,  two 
years'  average  wages. 

Loss  of  one  eye,  one-half  year's  wages. 

Loss  of  both  eyes  two  years'  wages. 

Any  employe  in  the  service  of  the  Company  on  or  before  Septem- 
ber 20,  1908,  had  the  privilege  of  becoming  a  member  of  the  Asso- 
ciation without  medical  examination  and  regardless  of  age  at  any 
time  prior  to  January  1,  1909.  Subsequent  to  the  latter  date  all 
applicants  for  membership  have  been  required  to  pass  a  physical  ex- 
amination. Any  employe  who  entered  the  service  of  the  Company 
after   September   20,   1908,   and   who   was   over  45   years   of  age  was 


VOLUNTARY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


393 


FIGURE    J22 


Use  care  in  loading  trucks.    Broken  legs   and   serious   injuries   may   result 
from  careless  loading  of  trucks 


allowed     to     contribute     for     the     regular     disability    benefits;     tlie   j^^ath  Benefits 

death  benefit,  however,  being  limited  to  $100.     An  employe  who  has    ^^^  Continue 

after  Leaving 
been  a  member  of  the  Benefit  Association  for  one  year  and  leaves   Company 

the  service  of  the  Company  may  continue  his  membership  in  respect 
only  of  the  maximum  death  benefit  which  he  has  held  during  the 
past  year.  Each  member  signs  an  application  for  membership,  in 
which  he  authorizes  the  Company  to  deduct  his  contributions  from 
his  wages,  names  his  beneficiary,  agrees  to  be  governed  by  the  regu- 
lations, and  states  that  he  is  correct  and  temperate  in  his  habits. 
Female  employes  are  accepted  as  members  on  the  same  basis  as  male 
employes. 

When  a  member  is  disabled,  he  must  notify  his  timekeeper  or 
superior  officer  at  once.  The  medical  examiner  decides  when  bene- 
fits are  to  begin  and  when  they  are  to  terminate. 

No  benefits  are  paid  when  the  disability  is  due  to  intoxication  or 
the   use   of  alcoholic   liquors   or  to  unlawful   or   immoral   acts.     This 


394 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 
FIGURE    J23 


Emery  wheels.    The  man  at  the  left  has  a  piece  of  emery  in  his  eye  because 

he  did  not  wear  glasses.     The  man  at  the  right  is  wearing  the 

glasses  provided  for  ertiery  wheel  grindere. 


Board  of  30  in 
Charge;   One- 
half   Elected 
by  Members; 
Other  Half 
Appointed  by- 
Company 


bar  does  not  apply  to  the  payment  of  death  benefit  to  his  beneficiaries, 
provided  contribution  is  made  during  disability. 

The  Benefit  Association  is  in  charge  of  a  Board  of  Trustees,  con- 
sisting of  30  members  representing  the  various  works  and  departments. 
One-half  of  the  trustees  are  elected  by  ballot  by  the  members  of  the 
Association  and  one-half  are  appointed  by  the  Board  of  Directors  of 
the  Company.  The  president  of  the  Company  is  ex-ofRcio  chairman  of 
the  Board.  The  Board  of  Trustees  appoints  the  superintendent  and  has 
general  supervision  over  the  Association.  It  meets  quarterly.  All  ques- 
tions may  be  appealed  to  this  Board  over  the  decision  of  the  superin- 
tendent and  its  decision  is  final.  The  superintendent,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Board,  has  charge  of  all  business  of  the  Association  and 
acts  as  secretary  of  the  Board.  He  employs  medical  examiners,  clerks, 
etc.,  pays  all.  benefits  under  the  regulations,  certifies  all  bills  and  pay 
rolls,  and  decides  all  questions  properly  referred  to  him. 

A  medical  examiner  is  stationed  at  each  of  the  works.  He  makes 
the  required  physical  examinations,  visits  the  sick  and  injured,  and 


VOLUNTAUY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


395 


FIGURE    J24 


The  wrong  way  to  use  a  shaper.    Employes  not  usins:  guards  provided  for 

wood  sliapers  will  be  discharged.    See  that  the  guards 

on  your  machine  are  always  in  place. 


Makes  Liberal 


decides  when  they  are  disabled  and  when  they  are  able  to  work,  and 
performs  such  other  duties  as  may  be  required  of  him  by  the 
superintendent. 

The  membership  in  the  Association  is  voluntary. 

At  the  end  of  each  year,  if  the  average  membership  in  the  various   company 

manufacturing  plants  during  that  year  has  equalled  50  per  cent  of  the   ^     ,  ., 

Contribution 

average  total  number  of  employes  in  the  plants,  the  Company  contrib-    Based  on 

Membership 
iites  $25,000  to  the  fund;  and  if  such  average  membership  has  equalled 

75  per  cent  of  such  total  number  of  employes,  the  Company  contributes 
^50,000  to  the  fund.  On  January  1,  1910,  the  Company  contributed 
$50,000  for  the  preceding  year,  and  according  to  the  membership  dur- 
ing 1910  will  undoubtedly  be  required  to  make  another  contribution 
of  the  same  amount. 

All  expenses  of  the  Association  are  paid  out  of  its  funds.     The   Association 

Financiully 
annual   contribution  of  the  Company  is  first  applied  toward  the  nee-    Sound 


396 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


FIGURE    J25 


- — i            -•           ^.^ii- 

.  1     1 

ft 

i 

1 

__J^^^M^          ^^w|gii||HHpr                            »  '# 

mm 

er  in  wood  shop.    You  cannot  be  injured  on  a  shaper  if  a  guard  is 
used  as  shown  above. 


essary  expenses  of  conducting  the  affairs  of  the  Association,  and  the 
balance  remaining  after  such  deduction  is  available  for  the  payment 
of  benefits. 

The  Benefit  Association  on  December  1,  1910,  had  a  membership 
of  over  28,000  and  it  was  in  a  most  flourishing  financial  condition. 


Workers  Do 
Not  Contribute 
to  Pension 
Fund 


PENSION    SYSTEM 

The  pension  system,  like  most  all  other  systems,  is  based  on  the 
age  and  length  of  service  of  the  employe.  The  Company,  however, 
does  not  require  any  contribution  from  the  employes  to  the  pension 
fund  as  the  payment  of  all  pensions  is  assumed  by  the  Company. 
Male  employes  who  have  reached  the  age  of  65  years  and  who 
have  been  in  the  service  20  years  may  be  pensioned  upon  their 
application,  while  all  employes  who  have  reached  the  age  of  70  years 
and  who  have  been  in  the  service  20  years  or  more  shall  be  pensioned. 


VOLUNTARY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


397 


FIGURE    J26 


The  wrong  way  to  use  a  «a\v  guard.    Employes  not  using  guard  provided  for 

circular  saws  will  be  discharged.     See  that  the  guard  on 

your  machine  is  always  in  place. 


FIGURE    J27 


Circular  saw  in  wood  shop.    This  man  has  the  saw  guard  in  place  and  his 
hands  are  protected  from  injury. 


398  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

FIGURE    J28 


Spinner  in  twine  mill.    This  girl  has  stopped  her  machine  and  is  removing 
the  twine  from  the  shaft  with  her  knife.    This  is  the  only  safe  way. 

FIGURE    J29 


Spinner  in  twine  mill.  This  girl  did  not  obey  the  rules  of  the  company  and 
tried  to  remove  twine  from  the  shaft  with  her  fingers  instead  of  her  knife, 
while  the  machine  was  in  motion.  A  serious  injury  to  her  hand  was  the 
result. 


VOLUNTARY  RELIEF  IX  THE  UNITED  STATES  399 

Female  employes  who  have  reached  the  age  of  50  years  and  have 
been  20  or  more  years  in  the  service  may,  at  their  own  request, 
be  pensioned,  but  all  female  employes  shall  be  retired  at  the  age  of 
GO   years,   provided   they   have  been   in   the   service   20   years. 

The  amount  of  the  annual  pension  (which  is  payable  in  monthly- 
installments)   is  arrived  at  in  the  following  manner: 

For  each  year  of  active  service  an  allowance  of  1  per  cent  of  the  Pension  Paid 

average  annual   pay   during  the    10   years   next   preceding  retirement.  ^^^^^  ^^  Wages 

No  pension  shall  exceed  $100  per  month  or  be  less  than  $18  per  month.  ^^^  Every 

Year   of    Ser- 
The  administration  of  the  pension  fund  is  in  charge  of  a  Pension   vice 

Board    consisting   of   five   members — all    officers    or    employes    of    the 

Company  and  appointed  by  the  Board  of  Directors. 

****** 

The  International  Harvester  Company  has  printed  pamphlets  de- 
scribing the  three  plans  mentioned  above  and  copies  of  same  may  be 
obtained  by  those  interested  in  this  subject  by  communicating  with 
G.  A.  Ranney,  International  Harvester  Company,  Harvester  Building, 
Chicago. 


PLANS  ADOPTED  BY  CHENEY  BROTHERS  FOR  INDUSTRIAL 
INSURANCE  AND  OLD  AGE  PENSIONS 

By  HOWELL  CHENEY 

In  the  past  both  the  Company  and  the  employes  had  established, 
as  occasion  required,  various  forms  of  relief  for  disability.  On 
the  part  of  the  Company  these  had  not  been  administered  under  any 
well-defined  system,  or  in  proper  relation  to  each  other,  and  conse- 
quently had  not  served  the  ends  for  which  they  were  designed,  in  the 

most  efficient  manner.     Their  basis  was  a  charitable  one  tending  to   „      , 

Based   on 

supplement  incompetence  and  thriftlessness,  rather  than  to  encourage  Charity  in- 
efficient 
efficiency   and   foresight.     On   the   part  of  the  employes  their  mutual 

assistance  has  been  limited  necessarily  to  particular  or  fraternal 
groups,  and  so  has  not  been  within  the  reach  of  the  great  majority 
of  employes. 

The  industry  is  one  of  the  least  hazardous  of  mechanical  employ- 
ments, and  the  problem  of  taking  care  of  industrial  accidents  was  felt 
to  be  only  an  incident  in  the  general  problem  of  social  insurance, 
and  not  to  be  separated  from  it.  The  value  of  the  contributory  prin- 
ciple was  recognized,  but  its  object  in  securing  a  mutual  and  co- 
operative undertaking  was  obtained  by  making  the  insurance  against  contributory 
Industrial  injuries,  upon  a  fixed  and  liberal  scale  entirely  at  the  em-  J^^^j^^^^ 
ployer's  expense,  dependent  upon  the  employe's  protecting  himself 
against  disability  due  to  sickness  at  his  own  expense.  Also  the  grant- 
ing of  a  pension  as  a  return  for  long  and  efficient  service  was  made 

401 


40  Per  Cent 
of  Employes 
Women 


Disability 

Insurance 

Through 

Mutual 

Benefit 

Association 


402  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

dependent  upon  the  individual's  having  contributed  toward  an  annuity. 
A  long  established  custom  in  the  payment  of  accident  benefits  made  a 
direct  cash  contribution  impracticable,  and  in  the  particular  industry 
not  essential,  because  most  of  the  injuries  being  of  a  minor  nature 
the  establishing  of  a  cash  contribution  or  of  a  long  waiting  period 
would  make  it  appear  that  the  injured  persons  were  still  carrying  the 
whole  of  the  burden. 

On  the  lines  indicated  above  the  Company  proposed  to  its  em- 
ployes a  mutual  and  co-operative  undertaking,  whereby  a  comprehen- 
sive range  of  insurance  against  loss  of  earning  power  due  to  all  forms 
of  disability  was  made  possible  for  all  under  equal  conditions  as  re- 
gards costs  and  results.  Forty  per  cent  of  the  employes  are  women, 
and  a  careful  study  was  made  of  this  side  of  the  problem,  which  is 
a  feature  the  railroads,  wood  and  metal  trades  have  not  had  to 
consider. 

The  development  of  the  scheme  proposed  the  uniting  of  all  these 
forms  of  protection  under  two  general  plans,  which  were  carefully 
correlated: — First,  the  organization  of  a  mutual  benefit  association 
managed  jointly  by  the  Company  and  its  employes  to  cover  injuries, 
sickness,  annuities  and  death;  and  secondly,  the  development  by 
the  Company  of  old  age  pensions  as  assuring  a  definite  return  for  long, 
efficient  and  faithful  service.  The  following  description  states  in 
concise  form  the  more  important  features  of  these  plans.  The  exact 
conditions  governing  them  are  contained  in  the  formal  constitution 
and  by-laws. 


Workers  Con- 
tribute 2  Per 
Cent  of  Wages 


OBJECT 
The  object  of  the  Association  was  to  provide  a  simple  and  easy 
means  whereby  those  employes  who  were  willing  to  set  apart  ap- 
proximately 2  per  cent  of  their  wages  might  secure  to  themselves 
or  their  families  an  assured  income  in  the  form  of  certain  benefits 
to  be  paid  in  the  case  of  death,  sickness,  injury  or  incapacity  from 
old  age. 


VOLUNTARY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  403 


MEMBERSHIP 

Prior  to  December  1,  1910,  all  of  the  employes  of  Cheney  Brothers,   ^g  Years  the 

or   subsidiary   companies,   were   eligible,   unless   physically   disqualified,   ^^®  Limit  for 

Full  Member- 

to  full  membership.  Since  December  1,  1910,  employes  over  45  ship 
years  of  age  have  been  eligible  to  limited  membership  only,  which  en- 
titles them  to  sick  and  'accident  benefits,  but  not  to  death  claims  or 
annuities.  The  contributions  of  full  members  are  2  per  cent  of  the 
mean  wage  of  the  class  to  which  they  belong,  and  of  limited  mem- 
bers IM:  per  cent. 


ORGANIZATION 

The  affairs  of  the  Association  are    managed    by    a    president,    vice-  Board  of 

Trustees  Made 
president,  superintendent,  medical  director  and  eleven  trustees.     The    ^p  qj  -pive 

treasurer    of   the   Company   is    the  Association    treasurer    and    an    ex-      pp°  ^      ^  ° 

officio   member   of  the  Board  of  Trustees.      Of   the    other    members    of   ^^^^  Repre- 
sentatives of 
the   Board    five   are   appointed   by   the    directors    of    the    Company,    and"  Association's 

,  ,         ,  Members 

five  are  elected  by  the  members.     The  president  and  vice-president 

are  chosen  by  the  Board  on  the  nomination  of  the  trustees  represent- 
ing the  members.  The  superintendent  and  medical  director  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  Board  on  the  nomination  of  the  trustees  representing 
the  Company.  There  are  three  executive  committees  known  as  the 
operating,  finance  and  auditing  committees.  One  member  of  the 
operating  committee  is  chosen  by  the  trustees  representing  the  mem- 
bers, one  by  the  trustees  representing  the  Company,  and  the  third 
is  the  superintendent.  The  finance  committee  is  chosen  in  like  man- 
ner, the  treasurer  being  the  third  member  thereof. 


CONTRIBUTIONS 

Contributions    are    paid    monthly   in    advance    and    are    subtracted 
from  any  wages  earned,  or  otherwise  are  paid  in  cash. 


404 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Benefits  Paid 
Automatically 


Injured 
Workers 
Taken 
Care  of 


ACCIDENT   BENEFITS 

All  accident  benefits  are  paid  by  the  Company,  including  medical 
and  surgical  attendance,  and  hospital  maintenance,  where  necessary, 
but  are  distributed  through  the  medium  of  the  Association.  They  are 
allowed  to  members  of  the  Association  who  are  injured  in  the  service, 
unless  the  injury  was  due  to  the  member's  own  willful  and  serious 
misconduct,  or  disobedience  of  rules  reasonably  designed  for  the 
protection  of  employes.  Such  accident  benefits  are  paid  automatically 
to  members  only,  without  any  question  as  to  the  Company's  legal  lia- 
bility.   The  specific  benefits  are: 

(a.)  In  case  of  death,  three  years'  wages  and  reasonable  funeral 
expenses. 

(b.)  In  case  of  total  incapacity,  half  pay  during  the  continuance 
of  disability,  excepting  the  first  three  days,  for  a  maximum  of  six 
years. 

(c.)  In  case  of  partial  incapacity,  after  the  resumption  of  work, 
one-half  the  difference  between  the  wages  earned  before  and  after 
the  injury.  Such  partial  incapacity  benefits  continue  for  such  part 
of  the  six  years  as  the  total  incapacity  benefits  have  not  been  paid. 

(d.)  In  all  cases  of  accidents  to  members,  medical  and  surgical  at- 
tendance, artificial  limbs  and  hospital  maintenance,  where  necessary, 
are  provided  at  the  expense  of  the  Company. 

(e.)  One  per  cent  is  added  to  the  above  accident  benefits  for 
every  year  of  service  over  five;  and  in  the  case  of  married  members 
supporting  families,  5  per  cent  for  each  child,  until  a  maximum  in- 
crease of  25  per  cent  is  reached. 


SICK  BENEFITS,  AND  DEATH  CLAIMS  FROM  DISEASE 

Sick  benefits  are  paid  out  of  the  contributions  of  members,  amount- 
ing to  2  per  cent  of  their  average  wages  for  full  members  and  l^A  per 
cent  for  limited  members,  plus  a  contribution  from  the  Company  of 
one  quarter  of  the  amount  paid  in  by  the  members. 


VOLLNTARY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


405 


Members  are  divided  into  five  classes  according  to  their  average 
weekly  wages. 


The   specific  benefits  and   contributions  for  each  class  are  given  be- 


low; 


SECTION  6.     SCHEDULE  OF  SICK  AND  DEATH  BENEFITS 


Class 
A 

Class 
B 

Class 
C 

Class 
D 

Class 
E 

Those  receiving    \  more  than 

weekly           '(  not  more  than 

$7.50 

$7.50 
12.50 

$12.50 
17.50 

$17.50 
22.50 

$22.50 

Mean  wage  of  Class 

$5.00 

$10.00 

$5.00 
2.50 

$15.00 

$20.00 

$24.00 

Benefit  per            (  1st  52-weeks 
week                 \  2d  52  weefejs 

$2.50 
1.25 

$7.50 
3.75 

$10.00 
5.00 

$12.00 
6.00 

Death  Claims 

$130.00 

$260.00 

$390.00 

$520.00 

$624.00 

r  2%  of  mean  wage 
Weekly              )  — full  members 
Contribution       ■^   *li4%_limited 
(  members 

$0.10 
.061/4 

$0.20 

.121/2 

$0.30 

.183/4 

$0.40 
.25 

$0.50 

.311/4 

♦Limited   membership  purchases  no  death  claims  nor  annuity. 


In  the  case  of  sickness   or  injuries  other  than  those  suffered  in  Half  Benefits 

.  .,  .  ,,„-.,,  J.    XT     .        1  to  Members 

the   service,  they  receive   one-half  of  the  mean  wage  of  their   class  ]3isabied 

for  the  first  52  weeks  (excepting  the  first  three  days)  and  one-quarter  While  Of£ 

for  the  second  52  weeks;  and  in  the  case  of  death  one-half  of  the  mean 

yearly  wage  of  their  class. 


ANNUITIES 


The  balance  of  the  money,  contributed  by  the  members,  left  after 
the  payment  of  sick  and  death  benefits,  is  transferred  to  a  fund  called 


406 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Reserve 
Fund  for 
Paying  Annui- 
ties 


the  Reserve  Fund.  This  is  invested  and  allowed  to  accumulate  into 
a  fund  from  which  annuities  will  be  paid  to  members  from  the  time 
of  their  retirement  until  their  death.  Members  who  leave  the  service 
after  contributing  five  years  can  recover  that  proportion  of  their 
contributions  which  was  charged  to  this  fund,  without  interest.  The 
dependents  of  members  who  have  died  before  becoming  entitled  to  an 
annuity,  can  recover  with  compound  interest  at  4  per  cent.  Female 
members  may  at  the  time  of  marriage  recover  the  proportion  of  their 
contributions  charged  to  this  fund,  with  compound  interest  at  4  per 
cent.    Thus  members  may  benefit  from  this  fund  by  three  methods. 

(a.)  By  retiring  at  the  annuity  age  because  of  either  old  age  or 
permanent  incapacity. 

(b.)  By  leaving  the  service  after  having  contributed  for  five  years. 

(c.)  By  the  beneficiaries  of  members  receiving  as  an  addition  to 
the  death  benefit  that  proportion  of  the  member's  contributions  which 
has  been  carried  over  to  the  fund,  with  interest  compounded  at  4  per 
cent  annually. 

Annuities  can  be  paid  under  the  first  classification  to  the  fol- 
lowing: 

(a.)  To  men  over  70  years  of  age  and  women  over  60  years  of  ago, 
who  have  been  contributors  to  the  fund  for  10  years. 

(b.)  To  men  over  65  years  of  age  and  women  over  55  years  of  age 
who  have  been  contributors  to  the  fund  for  15  years  and  who  are 
retired. 

(c.)  To  men  or  women  of  any  age  who  have  been  contributors 
to  the  fund  for  20  years  and  who  have  become  permanently  incapaci- 
tated for  further  work  in  the  service  of  the  Company. 

On  leaving  the  service  there  is  a  further  restriction  in  that  the 
payment  may  not  be  made  until  one  year  after  the  termination  of 
membership,  which  is  to  prevent  a  dissipation  of  the  fund  for  pur- 
poses other  than  were  intended. 

Under  the  third  classification  if  a  member  dies  before  becom- 
ing entitled  to  an  annuity  it  becomes  a  definite  addition  to  his  death 
benefit. 


VOLUNTARY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


407 


No  annuities  can  be  paid  under  the  plan  for  10  years,  and  their 
amounts  will  be  dependent  upon  several  unknown  factors,  such  as  the 
average  rate  of  interest  to  be  obtained  on  the  investments  of  the  Asso- 
ciation, the  average  age  of  entering  and  retiring,  and  the  number  of 
withdrawals.  It  is  conservatively  estimated  that  they  will  be  equal  to 
about  one-fifth  of  the  amount  of  the  pensions. 


MONTHLY  ANNUITIES  FOR  CLASS  C 


YEARS 

CONTRIBUTED 

Age  at 
Retirement 

20 

25 

30 

35 

40 

45 

50 

70 

$4.80 

$6.63 

$8.94 

$11.79 

$15.36 

$19.74 

65 

$2.49 

3.57 

4.92 

6.60 

8.67 

11.25 

60 

2.01 

2.88 

3.93 

5.25 

6.90 

55 

1.71 

2.43 

3.30 

4.41 

50 

1.50 

2.13 

2.88 

45 

1.35 

1.89 

PENSIONS 


The  pension  system  is  related  to  the  Benefit  Association  in  that 
its  members  only  are  eligible  for  pensions.  The  granting  of  pensions 
remains,  as  before,  a  sole  activity  of  the  Company.  And  while  mem- 
bership in  the  Association  establishes  eligibility,  it  does  not  in  itself 

create  any  right  to  a  pension,  which  is  granted  at  the  discretion  of   Company 

Grants 

the   Directors   of   the   Company   as   a   return   for   long,   efficient   and  Pensions  for 

Long  and 

faithful  service.  EfflcSent 

Pensions  may  be  granted  by  the  pension  committee,  under  the  regu-  Service 
lation  of  the  directors  to  the  following  classes  of  employes,  if  mem- 
bers of  the  Benefit  Association: 


408  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

(a.)  To  any  employe  over  50  years  of  age  who  has  been  25  or  more 
years  in  the  service,  and  who  has  become  totally  incapacitated  for 
further  work  at  any  employment  or  trade;  or  to  those  employes  as 
much  younger  than  50  as  they  have  worked  years  more  than  25,  who 
have  become  totally  incapacitated. 

(b.)  To  men,  after  25  years  of  service,  who  are  7J  years  of  age  or 
over;  or  to  men  for  the  same  term,  who  are  from  65  to  69  years  of  age 
inclusive  and  have  become  incapacitated  for  work  of  a  like  character 
to  their  past  trade  or  employment. 

(c.)  To  women,  after  20  years  of  service,  who  are  60  years  of  age 
or  over;  or  to  women  for  the  same  term  who  are  from  55  to  59  years 
of  age,  inclusive,  and  have  become  incapacitated  for  work  of  a  like 
character  to  their  past  trade  or  employment. 

The  amount  of  a  pension  is  determined  by  the  employes'  efficiency 
as  expressed  in  wages  and  years  of  service.  It  is  10  per  cent  of  the 
average  actual  monthly  wages  for  the  10  years  preceding  retirement 
plus  1  per  cent  of  the  same  amount  for  every  year  of  service.  There 
is  no  maximum  or  minimum  rate  of  pensions  and  all  from  super- 
intendents down  will  be  figured  by  the  above  rule. 

ESTIMATE  OF  AMOUNT  OF  PENSIONS  FOR  VARIOUS  RATES  OF 
WAGES  AND  TERMS  OF  SERVICE 


Averagre 
Monthly 
Rate  of 

$36 

$40 

$45 

$50 

$60 

$70 

$80 

$90 

$10(J 

Wages 

Term  of 
Service 

20  years 

$10.80 

$12.00 

$13.50 

$15.00 

$18.00 

$21.00 

$24.00 

$27.00 

$30.00 

25  years 

12.60 

14.00 

15.75 

17.50 

21.00 

24.50 

28.00 

31.50 

35.00 

30  years 

14.40 

16.00 

18.00 

20.00 

24.00 

28.00 

32.00 

36.00 

40.00 

35  years 

16.20 

18.00 

20.25 

22.50 

27.00 

31.50 

36.00 

40.50 

45.00 

40  years 

18.00 

20.00 

22.50 

25.00 

30.00 

35.00 

40.00 

45.00 

50.00 

45  years 

19.80 

22.00 

24.75 

27.50 

33.00 

38.50 

44.00 

49.50 

55.00 

50  yeare 

21.60 

24.00 

27.00 

30.00 

36.00 

42.00 

48.00 

54.00 

00.00 

55  years 

23.40 

26.00 

29.25 

32.50 

39.00 

45.50 

52.00 

58.50 

65.00 

VOLUNTARY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  409 


COST    TO    EMPLOYES    AND    ITS    DISTRIBUTION    IN    BENEFITS 
The  cost  to  employes  is  2  per  cent  of  their  wages  which  an  actuarial 
estimate  distributes  as  follows: 

Per  cent 

Cost  of  Sick   Benefits    9 

"    Death  Benefits  from  Sickness 4 

"      "    Out  of  Service  Accidents,  classed  as  sickness 125 

Transferred  to  Reserve  Fund  for  Annuities 575 

Total. 2. 


It  has  been  possible  to  give  an  amount  of  insurance  under  these 
plans  which  it  would  not  be  possible  for  members  to  purchase  at  the 
same  cost  from  any  commercial  insurance  company,  or  in  any  fra- 
ternal or  mutual  benefit  society,  because  all  of  the  operating  expenses, 
all  the  benefits  for  injuries  received  in  the  service  and  25  per  cent  of 
the  amount  contributed  by  the  members  toward  sick  benefits,  death 
claims  from  sickness,  and  annuities,  are  paid  for  by  the  Company,  in 
addition  to  the  entire  cost  of  pensions,  which  are  administered  under  a 
separate  plan. 

In  dealing  with  insurance  against  sickness  and  death  it  is  a  very   Benefits 

Greater  than 
difficult  problem  to  convince  wage  earners,  whose  experience  with  in-  those  of 

surance  problems  is  not  large,  that  a  sound  conservative  proposition  ^^^^^^^  ^- 

surance  Com- 

based   on   scientific   actuarial   estimates   is   in   the   long   run   cheaper  panics   or 

Mutual  and 
as  well  as  safer  for  them,  than  the  less  expensive  premiums  charged   Fraternal 

Societies 
by    assessment    and    fraternal    benefit    associations,    whose    universal 

practice  is  to  encourage  new  business  by  deferring  the  inevitable 
day  of  reckoning.  It  would  have  been  a  material  assistance  in  meet- 
ing this  problem  if  the  right  to  a  death  benefit  could  have  been  "con- 
tinued after  leaving  the  service  until  some  fixed  age,  as  is  done  by 
the  International  Harvester  Co.;  but  the  Connecticut  laws  made  such  a 
course  impossible.     As  a  matter  of  fact,    few   such   policies   would   be 


410 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


continued,  but  it  would  answer  the  objection  that  the  life  insurance 
feature  compelled  continuance  in  one  employment,  whereas  fraternal 
associations  were  under  no  such  restrictions. 

COST  TO  THE  COMPANY 

The  cost  of  the  plan  to  the  Company   was  estimated  to  be  the 

following  percentages  of  the  pay  roll: 

Per  cent 

Operating  Expenses  Including  Inspection  and  Medical  Expenses.     .125 

In   Service   Accidents    375 

Contribution  to  Sick  Benefit  Fund 5 

Total  Benefit  Association  Expenses   1. 

Cost  of  Pensions    2. 

Total    3. 


No  Guide  for 

Other 

Industries 


The  cost  of  pensions  would  form  no  criterion  as  to  estimating  the 
cost  of  pensions  in  other  industries  or  establishments,  as  the  char- 
acter of  the  help  is  most  unusually  stable  and  fixed  and  contains  a 
very  high  percentage  of  employes  eligible  to  pensions  either  imme- 
diately or  prospectively. 


THE     REASONS     FOR     THE     ASSUMPTION     OF     THESE 
OBLIGATIONS 


In  the  case  of  accidents  it  was  the  replacing  of  a  haphazard  char- 
itable system,  more  or  less  dependent  upon  the  varying  discretion  of 
Company  Con- 
siders Accident     department  managers,  with  a  uniform  system  guaranteeing  a  just  and 
Compensation 

P^r*  o^  equal  treatment  of  every  case.    In  a  wider  sense  it  is  a  definite  state- 

Cost  of  Pro- 
duction ment  by  the  Company  of  the  general  principle  under  which  they  have 

acted  for  many  years,  that  injuries,  so  far  as  they  are  a  necessary 

incident  to  industry,  are  a  part  of  the  cost  of  production  and  should 


VOLUNTARY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  411 

be  borne  to  that  extent  by  the  consumer,  and  not  entirely  by  the 
injured  person.  The  plan  provides  for  a  means  of  determining  this 
factor  of  the  cost  of  production  more  definitely,  and  of  insuring  both 
the  Company  and  the  employe  against  it. 

In  the  case  of  sickness  four  considerations  induced  the  Company's 
contribution  to  the  sick  benefit  fund.  First,  it  was  an  extension  of 
the  Company's  past  system  of  relief  to  individuals  and  tubercular 
patients,  so  that  it  was  not  entirely  dependent  upon  charity  but  was 
an  encouragement  to  the  efficient  and  provident  employe  who  was 
willing  to  make  a  sacrifice  to  secure  the  additional  benefits  guar- 
anteed. Secondly,  it  covered  whatever  slight  occupational  disease 
or  unsanitary  conditions  might  be  connected  with  the  industry,  which 
its  members  were  powerless  to  protect  themselves  against.  Third, 
illness  as  well  as  injury  occasion  a  large  economic  waste  to  the 
Company  as  well  as  to  the  employes  on  account  of  lost  time,  idle 
machinery,  and  ineffective  work.  It  is  to  the  direct  interest  of  the 
Company  as  well  as  the  individual  to  bring  about  a  re-establishment 
of  health,  and  consequently  efficiency,  by  supplying  the  best  conditions 

possible  for  recovery.     In  furthering  these  ends  much   could  also  be   Benefited  by 

Helping  Sick 
accomplished   by  scientifically  helping  the   employes   to   protect  them-  and  injured 

selves  from  the  depredations  of  cheap  assessment  plans,  which  de- 
prived them  of  the  assistance  which  they  supposed  they  had  purchased, 
when  they  most  needed  it  in  their  old  age. 

In  the  case  of  pensions  the  past  practice  of  the  Company  has  tended 
toward   their  bestowal   in   cases   of  necessity.     The   new   regulation 
makes   a  pension   dependent  on  the   part  of  the   Company  on  long, 
efficient,  and  faithful  service;  and  further  on  the  part  of  the  employe 
upon  his  willingness,   independently  of  it,  to   supplement  his  pension  Pensions 
by  a  definite  degree  of  providence  on  his  own  part  in  the  form  of    g^siness 
an  annuity.     This  makes  a  pension  not  so  much  a  charity  as  an  ac-   Policy 
knowledgment    of  the  additional  value  of  length  and  fidelity  of  serv- 
ice;   it  provides  a  pension  for  the  efficient,  thrifty  employe  as  a  mat- 
ter of  sound   business   policy,  rather  than  to  the  less   eflicient  and 
improvident  hand  as  a  matter  of  charity. 


412 


ACCIDENT  PREVENTION  AND  RELIEF 


PRINCIPLE?  INVOLVED 


Liability 


Plan  Insures 
Company 
Against  Un- 
just Legal 
Burdens 


The  aim  was  first  to  eliminate  the  whole  question  of  liability,  and 
to  place  the  remedy  on  an  entirely  differen|  plane.  There- 
fore, no  attempt  has  been  made  to  alter  in  any  respect  the 
present  legal  rights  or  liabilities  of  either  party  to  the  contract.  And 
the  Company  did  not  believe  it  was  running  a  great  risk  in  not  de* 
manding  a  release  from  some  portion  of  its  liability  in  lieu  of  assum- 
ing considerable  obligations  not  imposed  upon  it  by  law  and  statutory 
rights.  The  character  of  the  plan  itself  is  the  Company's  best  insur- 
ance against  the  imposition  of  unjust  and  unreasonable  legal  burdens; 
best  in  proportion  as  it  automatically  insures  the  workingmen,  in 
their  own  right  and  not  as  a  charity,  of  a  fairer  distribution  of  the 
burden  of  accidents  and  disabilities  inevitably  due  to  the  modern 
organization  of  industry  than  thej'  could  obtain  either  through  the 
intermediary  of  a  law,  a  court  or  an  insurance  company. 


Individual 
Replaced  by 
Collective  Re- 
sponsibility 


Compensation    vs.    IKsurance 

The  principle  is  fast  becoming  established  that  industrial 
accidents  are  a  risk  inherent  in  modern  industry  and  not 
justly  based  on  any  theory  of  personal  fault;  and  that  an 
economical  settlement  of  the  matter  is  dependent  upon  our  remov- 
ing it  from  the  sphere  of  individual  responsibility  and  basing  it 
squarely  upon  the  new  theory  of  a  collective  responsibility  for  a  risk 
inherent  in  the  system.  It  should  follow  from  this  that  either  "dam- 
ages" or  "compensation"  in  the  sense  of  making  good  a  loss  is  as 
mistaken  a  settlement  as  was  the  principle  of  legal  awards  assessed 
by  a  court.  No  amount  of  damages  can  rightly  compensate  for  the 
life  of  a  husband,  son  or  brother.  The  ultimate  cause  lies  in  human 
nature  and  the  organization  of  industry.  The  direct  causes  are  as 
varied  as  the  characters  of  men  and  the  organization  of  industry. 
They  cannot  be  exactly  defined  by  laws.     They  belong  to  a  system. 


VOLUNTARY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  413 

not  to  individuals.  Clearly  the  remedy  must  be  worked  out  between 
the  component  parts  of  the  system,  and  must  be  much  more  in  the 
nature  of  a  mutual  insurance  against  a  known  risk  than  of  compensa- 
tion for  damage  done. 

Character  of  the  Insurance 

It  is  not  in  the  nature  of  charity  or  poor  relief.  Hence, 
to  measure  the  insurance  by  the  "dependence"  created,  as 
is  done  in  the  English  system,  is  to  start  upon  an  entirely 
false  basis.  It  is  an  insurance  against  loss  or  depreciation  of  earning 
power,  i,  e.,  wages,  or  efficiency.  The  aim  should  be  entirely  to  con- 
serve or  maintain  the  efficiency  of  workers,  and  hence  their  insurance  ^ 

Death  and 

should  be  expressed  entirely  in  the  terms  of  wages.     There   should   Disease  Just 

as  Important 
be  no  maximum  or  minimum  benefits,  but  all  from  directors  to  door-  to  insure 

keepers  should  be  benefited  by  the  same  plan.  One  scale  of  premiums  Occidents 
and  a  corresponding  one  for  benefits,  both  a  percentage  of  wages. 
Loss  of  earning  power  from  industrial  injuries  is  only  one,  and  a 
minor,  cause  of  loss  of  earning  power.  Disease  and  death  must  in- 
evitably impair  the  earning  power  of  every  worker;  industrial  in- 
juries that  of  a  very  few.  If  there  are  sound  economic  reasons  for 
compelling  an  insurance  of  the  one,  why  not  of  them  all? 

Note. — Messrs.  Cheney  Brothers  will  furnish  complete  copies  of  the 
ccnstitution  and  by-laws  of  the  Mutual  Benefit  Association  in  operation 
at  their  works,  to  persons  interested.  Copies  may  be  had  from  the 
National  Association  of  Manufacturers,  30  Church  Street,  New  York 
City. 


o 


O 


VOLUNTARY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  415 


MUTUAL  INSURANCE  PLAN  OF  THE  GENERAL  ELECTRIC 
COMPANY'S  EMPLOYES,  AT  WEST  LYNN,  MASS. 

By  MAGNUS  W.  ALEXANDER 

The  spirit  of  the  age  is  prompting  the  managers  of  industrial  en- 
terprises to  appreciate  with  increasing  insight  the  human  phase  of 
their  problem.  Before  the  factory  method  became  an  established 
part  of  our  industrial  system,  the  master  concerned  himself  with  the 
well-being  of  his  men.  When  large  groups  of  employes,  however, 
came  under  the  management  of  a  single  employer  or  a  corporation, 
master  and  men  in  their  personal  relations  began  to  drift  apart.  Of 
late  the  care  of  the  employes  is  again  attracting  the  attention  of  our 

industrial  managers,  who,  on  an  enlarged  basis,  and  with  due  con- 

^     ,,         ,  ,  No  Paternal- 

sideration  to  the  changed  social  and  industrial  conditions,  are  in  many    jsj^;  promotion 

ways  endeavoring  to  increase  the  well-being  and  contentment  of  their    °^   Self-Help 

Instead 

employes.  The  philosophy  involved  in  this  new  effort,  however, 
eliminates  the  old  paternalistic  idea  of  taking  care  of  the  employes, 
and  substitutes  the  modern  view  of  stimulating  and  assisting  em- 
ployes to  take  care  of  themselves. 

It  was  in  line  with  this  thought  that  the  officials  of  the  General 
Electric  Company  at  West  Lynn,  Mass.,  some  eight  years  ago,  con- 
sidered the  establishment  of  a  mutual  benefit  association.  Such  an 
organization,  they  believed,  would,  if  properly  constituted  and  man- 
aged, result  in  physical  and  moral  benefit  not  only  to  the  employes, 
but  to  the  company  as  well.  The  idea  of  a  mutual  benefit  association 
among  employes  is  neither  new  nor  novel;  yet  the  Association  at 
the  Lynn  works  merits  attention  on  account  of  its  new  and  novel 
features,  which,  during  a  period  of  eight  years,  have  proved  their 
value. 


A  Question  of 
Management 


Some  Draw- 
backs of  Ordi- 
nary Mutual 
Benefit    Asso- 
ciations 


Association 
Made  up 
of  Small 
Self-Governing 
Bodies  of 
Workers 


416  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

Before  the  Company  started  the  plan  it  investigated  existing  or- 
ganizations of  a  similar  character,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the 
causes  of  the  partial  or  total  failure  of  some  of  them,  and  the  reasons 
for  the  ineffectiveness  of  the  many  in  developing  their  full  poten- 
tialities. As  a  result  of  this  investigation,  it  was  found  that  certain 
features  tended  to  operate  against  the  complete  success  of  a  mutual 
benefit  association.  It  seemed  clear  that  whenever  the  employer  or 
his  agents  take,  by  statute,  a  prominent  part  in  the  management  of 
such  an  organization,  the  workmen  themselves  not  only  fail  to  assume 
the  responsibilities  for  the  proper  administration  of  the  funds,  but  usu- 
ally lose  genuine  interest  in  the  Association,  and  finally  look  upon 
the  whole  matter  with  a  suspicion  which,  though  unfounded,  is  not 
unnatural.  On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  a  large  organization  presents  an  administrative  problem 
that  cannot  easily  be  dealt  with  by  the  employes  alone,  and 
of  necessity,  therefore,  calls  for  active  participation  in  the  man- 
agement by  the  employer.  Yet,  when  the  Association  becomes 
so  large  as  to  require  the  full  service  of  one  or  more  officials,  the  mem- 
bers look  with  disfavor  upon  the  use  of  part  of  their  contributions 
for  the  payment  of  salaries  for  these  officials.  Even  though  the  em- 
ployer assumes  such  payments,  this  feeling  of  discontent  is  not  wholly 
overcome.  Finally,  the  accumulation  of  large  funds  in  the  treasury 
of  an  Association  accentuates  the  belief  of  the  individual  member  that 
in  case  of  discontinuance  with  the  Company  he  should  not  lose  his 
equity  right  in  these  funds — he  forgets  that  his  small  contribution 
can  entitle  him  only  to  insurance  protection  of  a  limited  time,  for 
which  he  pays  his  premium  in  advance. 

When  these  deficiencies  became  understood,  certain  ideas  suggested 
themselves  as  fundamental  for  a  successful  administration  of  a  large 
mutual  benefit  association.    They  are: 

1.  Sub-division  of  the  Association  into  small,  self-acting  and  self* 
administering,  though  closely  connected,  bodies. 

2.  Management  of  these  sub-divisions  by  the  members  themselves, 
with  a  general  supervision  of  all  by  a  representative  of  the  Company, 


VOLUNTARY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  417 

to  keep  the  machinery  in  proper  working  order,  and  at  the  same 
time,  act  as  the  connecting  link  between  the  Association  and  the 
Company. 

3.  Limitation  of  the  size  of  trust  funds  in  the  treasuries  to  such 
amounts  as  would,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  seem  sufficient  for 
the  payment  of  all  guaranteed  benefits. 

4.  Utilization  of  all  or  very  nearly  all  contributed  moneys  for  the 
purposes  for  which  they  were  contributed — sickness,  accident  and  life 
insurance. 

5.  Simplicity  of  administration  in  order  that  every  member  may 
fully  understand  his  own  obligations  and  rights  and  those  of  all  others 
connected  with  the  Association. 

While  these  principles  can  be  worked  out  in  many  ways,  local 
conditions  and  available  personnel  necessarily  being  influencing  fac- 
tors, any  plan,  I  believe,  will  prove  efficacious  if  it  is  designed:    to 

Insurance 
offer  employes  the  cheapest  insurance  consistent  with  sound  and  safe  Must  be  Inex- 

,,.,.,.       „  .  ,  pensive  and  Pro- 

management  against  disability  from  sickness  or  accident,  and  death;   mote  Relations 

and  to  assist  in  the  development  of  such  relations  between  employer  ^^^^^^^  ^"^" 

ployer  and 

and  employes  as  will  tend  to  increase  their  mutual  loyalty,  and  con-  Employes 
sequently  bring  about  increased  efficiency  and  contentment. 

The  correctness  of  the  first  assumption  will  be  readily  accepted  by 
all.  The  second,  however,  usually  receives  no  open  recognition;  but 
to  my  mind  it  should  be  clearly  enunciated  in  order  to  eliminate  mis- 
understanding and  distrust  on  the  part  of  the  employes.  Inasmuch 
as  it  is  one  of  the  functions  of  good  management  to  create  a  body  of 
efficient  and  contented  employes,  every  proper  scheme  to  this  end  is 
justified  and  will  justify  itself  by  a  clear  statement  of  the  premises 
on  which  it  rests. 

In  this  spirit  the  constitution  and  by-laws  of  the  Thomson-Houston 

Mutual  Benefit  Association — named  after  the  then  existing  Thomson-  Organized  9 

Houston  Company,  but  now  called  the  General  Electric  Company —  Essential    ' 

were  worked  out,  and  the  Association  was  organized  on  August  9,   features 

Remain 

1902.     Though    several    changes    have    since    been    made   in    the    con-  Unchanged 
stitution  and  by-laws,  the  essential  features  have  remained  unaltered. 


Divided   into 
Sections  of 
Not  More  than 
150  Members 
Each 


Sectional 
Division 
Prevents 
Fraud 

Saves  Time 
and  Expense 


418  ACCIDENT    PREVENTION    AND    RELIEF 

The  constitution  provides  for  an  Association,  which  shall  consis 
of  individual  Sections  of  not  more  than  150  employes  each.  Eacl 
Section  has  its  own  administrative  body  and  treasury,  and  operates 
independently  of,  and  yet  interdependently  with,  all  other  Sections  of  th( 
Association,  under  the  common  constitution  and  by-laws.  The  mem 
bership  of  each  Section  is,  so  far  as  practicable,  recruited  from  a 
department  of  the  factory,  and  transfers  to  other  Sections  are  made 
possible  whenever  members  are  transferred  to  other  departments  foi 
business  reasons.  When  necessary,  two  or  more  Sections  are  formed 
in  the  same  department. 

The  advantages  of  this  sub-division  are  obvious.  This  arrangement 
groups  together  for  mutual  aid  employes  in  a  department  who  arc 
acquainted  with  each  other,  establishes  therefore  a  community  ol 
active  interest  in  each  small  group  and  makes  the  choice  of  the  Board 
of  Directors  of  each  Section  more  truly  an  expression  of  the  will  oi 
the  members  than  would  ordinarily  be  the  case  in  a  large  Associa- 
tion. New  employes  of  the  department  are  quickly  approached  with 
a  request  to  join,  and  will  be  usually  attracted  to  an  organization 
composed  of  fellow  workers  in  the  same  department,  when  they  might 
hesitate  to  join  a  large  Association  of  the  whole  factory.  On  account 
of  the  acquaintanceship  among  the  members  of  a  Section,  the  gen- 
uineness of  a  disability  claim  of  any  member  can  be  readily  estab- 
lished, and  fraudulent  practice  easily  checked.  Moreover,  under  this 
arrangement  the  secretary-treasurer  of  each  Section  can  collect  dues 
weekly  without  loss  of  more  than  two  or  three  hours,  and  at  the  time 
of  the  collection  can  personally  inform  the  members  of  the  condi- 
tions of  the  Section.  The  payment  by  the  Company  of  the  usual  wage 
to  the  secretaries  during  such  periods  is  neither  an  undue  financial 
burden  on  the  employer,  nor  is  it  subject  to  the  same  criticism  that 
was  made  in  reference  to  officials  paid  for  their  full  time.  Finally, 
a  division  of  the  whole  Association  into  small  Sections  gives  the  Com- 
pany an  opportunity  to  come  into  closer  touch  with  the  individual 
members  than  would  otherwise  be  the  case. 


VT'LUNTARY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  419 

Each  Section  solicits  its  own  membership,  collects  its  own  dues,  Death  Risks 
and  compensates  for  disabilities  from  sickness  or  accident  of  its  own 
members.  All  Sections,  however,  have  pooled  their  death  risks  so 
as  to  distribute  this  more  expensive  risk  over  a  large  membership. 
To  this  end  a  fund  is  maintained  by  monthly  assessments  on  the  va- 
rious Sections,  and  from  it  all  payments  for  death  benefits  for  de- 
ceased members  of  the  whole  Association  are  made.     The  chairmen 

of  the  Sections  form  the  committee  in  charge  of  the  Fund,  and  their 

Powers   of 
prerogatives   extend  so  far  as  to  permit  the  granting  of  extra  dis-    Death  Fund 

ability  benefits  beyond  those  which  each  Section  may  give  under  the  ommittee 
constitution  and  by-laws.  Requests  for  emergency  benefits  are  referred 
to  the  committee  by  the  secretary  of  the  Section  whose  member  is 
to  receive  the  advantage,  and  are  then  promptly  transmitted  to  an 
investigating  board  of  three.  This  investigation  forms  the  basis  of 
action  by  the  whole  committee,  which  may  grant  a  loan,  give  a  lump 
sum  or  weekly  benefits  in  addition  to  those  guaranteed  by  the  Section, 
or  assume  the  expenses  for  special  medical  treatment  and  other 
necessaries  of  life. 

While  this  arrangement  gives  a  much  desired  flexibility  to  the 
scheme  of  granting  benefits,  it  safeguards  itself  in  that  the  repre- 
sentative of  each  Section  serving  on  the  committee  naturally  scru- 
tinizes the  claims  made  by  other  Sections.  This  exercise  of  care  is 
still  further  fostered,  and  an  economic  administration  of  the  Fund 
assured,  by  the  provision  which  suspends  assessments  on  the  various 

Sections  whenever  the  amount  in  the  treasury  reaches  $2,000,  and  re-  ^^^^  Kept 

Between  $1,000 

sumes  monthly  collections  only  when,  by  death  and  emergency  pay-  and  $2,000 
ments,  the  treasury  is  reduced  to  $1,000.  Experience  has  shown  that 
a  floating  treasury  with  a  $2,000  maximum  limit  is  sufficient  to  meet 
all  ordinary  payments.  In  order,  however,  to  carry  still  further  the 
aim  of  minimizing  contributions  by  the  Sections  to  the  Death  and 
Emergency  Benefit  Fund,  the  committee  of  the  latter  arranges  for 
and  assumes  charge  of  the  social  activities  of  the  Association,  the 
proceeds  of  which  are  turned  into  the  general  fund.     At  the  same 


Funds  of 
Each  Section 
Vary  Between 
$200  and  1300 


Only 

Legritimate 

Disability 

Claims 

Granted 


Average 
Cost  to  Each 
Member 


420  ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 

lime,  the  infusion  of  a  wholesome  social  spirit  into  the  Association 
produces  beneficial  results. 

The  same  policy  or  economy  is  also  applied  to  each  individual 
Section,  which,  under  the  constitution  and  by-laws  is  directed  to  dis- 
continue the  collection  of  weekly  dues  from  its  members  as  soon  as 
its  treasury  contains  $300  or  more,  and  to  call  for  dues  again  when 
the  payment  of  disability  benefits,  assessments  to  t!ie  General  Fund, 
and  other  expenses  have  reduced  the  balance  in  the  treasury  to  $200. 
The  desire  for  an  economical  administration  in  each  Section  stimulates 
the  effort  to  discontinue  general  assessments  by  economy  in  the 
Emergency  and  Death  Benefit  Fund,  and  to  compensate  only  for  just 
disability  claims  when  the  same  are  supported  by  an  investigation 
of  the  visiting  committee,  or  by  other  evidence.  In  each  case,  unless 
the  disabled  member  is  so  far  removed  from  Lynn  as  to  make  a 
personal  investigation  by  a  visiting  committee  impracticable,  every 
claim  for  disability  benefits  is  investigated  weekly  by  a  visiting 
committee,  composed  of  members  of  the  claimant's  Section.  The 
tendency  for  economy  is  still  further  promoted  by  a  wholesome  rivalry 
between  the  different  Sections,  each  of  which  desires  to  afford  to 
its  members  the  cheapest  insurance  through  frequent  suspension  of  the 
payment  of  dues. 

In  this  way  members  of  many  Sections  have  been  insured  by  pay- 
ing weekly  dues  during  a  part  of  the  year  only.  While  the  consti- 
tution and  by-laws  provide  for  weekly  dues  of  10  cents  during  the 
periods  of  collection,  statistics  show  that  the  average  dues  per  year 
per  member  amount  to  not  more  than  $4.00,  or  about  8  cents  per 
week.  In  return  for  this  small  contribution,  the  members  secure 
a  life  insurance  of  $100,  and  a  disability  insurance  of  $6  per  week 
for  male,  and  $5  per  week  for  female  mehibers,  for  a  total  period 
of  not  more  than  14  weeks  in  each  consecutive  12  months;  and,  fur- 
thermore, they  are  assured  of  additional  emergency  benefits  when  a 
claim  for  such  seems  justified  in  the  judgment  of  the  general  commit- 
tee. Thoughtful  consideration  will  readily  prove  that  it  is  better  for 
all  concerned  to  limit  the  statutory  obligations  for  disability  benefits 


VOLUNTARY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  421 

to  a  relatively  short  period,  and  to  transfer  further  obligations  to  the 

Emergency  and  Death  Benefit  Fund,  where  each  case  can  be  dealt 

with  according  to  its  particular  needs  and  in  a  more  liberal  manner. 

Although  the  constitution  and  by-laws  provide  for  a  sub-division  of 

the  whole  Association  into  small  bodies,  the  latter  are  at  the  same  time 

placed  on  the  same  basis  of  operation,  and  are  again  brought  into 

close   correlation  through  the   Emergency   and   Death   Benefit   Fund, 

through  social  activities  involving  the  whole  Association,  and,  finally.  General  Chair- 
man Appointed 
through   the   general    chairman.     The   latter,   who   is   the   only  oflBcial  by  Company 

of  the  Association  and  the  chairman  of  the  general  fund,  is  appointed  visory  Capacity 
by  the  Company,  but  with  this  selection  the  statutory  influence  of  *°  Association 
the  Company  ceases.     The  functions  of  the  general  chairman  are  to 
guard  the  interests  of  the  whole  Association,  to  stimulate  the  various 
officers  and  committees,  and  to  keep  all  Sections  within  the  bounds 
of  constitutional  limitation.    Though  he  is  not  vested  with  any  execu- 
tive authority,  save  that  which  a  Section  may  delegate  to  him  from 
time  to  time,  his  real  power  lies  in  the  personal  influence  which  he 
may  be  able  to  exert;  and  this  influence  will  be  strengthened  and  en- 
larged to  the  degree  to  which  he  will  keep  it  clearly  before  all  mem- 
bers that  his  counsel  and  suggestions  are  only  of  an  advisory  nature, 
and  do  not  need  to  be  accepted  by  the  Sections  unless  their  contrary 
action    may   conflict  with   the   provisions   of  the   constitution   and   by- 
laws.     The    Emergency    and    Death    Benefit    Fund    Committee    offers 
to  the  general  chairman  an  excellent  opportunity  to  discuss  the  wel- 
fare of  the  Association  as  a  whole,  and  of  the  individual  Sections,  and 
to  shape  the  thought  of  the  chairmen  of  the  various  Sections,  through 
whom  his  influence  may  be  brought  home  to  the  membership  at  large,   stands  Be- 
Finally,  holding  his  flnger  on  the   pulse  of  the  membership  on  the   ^^^^^  Com- 
pany and 
one  side,  and  having  the  ear  of  the  Company  on  the  other  side,  the  Members  of 

Different 
general  chairman  can  work  to  the  benefit  and  advantage  of  both  in-  Sections 

terests,  and  he  will  fill  this  dual  position  so  much  the  better  the  more 
fairly  and  impartially  he  deals  with  both  sides. 

During  eight  years   as   general   chairman  of  the  Association,   my 
advice  has  been  asked  in  hundreds  of  cases,  either  as  to  an  interpre- 


421 


'^9 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Liberality  is 
the  Motto  in 
Dealing  With 
Disability  and 
Death  Benefit 
Claims 


Flinds    Are 
Administered 
Carefully,   Be- 
ing Raised 
Entirely  by 
the  Workers 
Themselves 


tation  of  the  constitution  and  by-laws,  or  to  tlie  extent  to  wliich 
liberality  and  leniency  might  properly  be  carried  in  individual  cases. 
In  regard  to  the  latter  point,  I  have  always  advocated  that  inasmuch 
as  the  Association  was  formed  primarily  for  mutual  help  in  favor  of 
those  in  distress,  no  claim  of  a  disabled  member  nor  of  the  heirs 
of  the  deceased  should  be  refused,  unless  the  invalidity  of  the  claim 
or  its  fraudulent  character  can  be  shown  conclusively;  and,  further, 
I  have  maintained  that  it  is  better,  with  the  limited  funds  on  hand, 
to  give  a  little  to  many  rather  than  to  give  much  to  a  few.  In  re- 
gard to  the  interpretation  of  the  constitution  and  by-laws,  on  the  other 
hand,  my  advice  has  always  been  to  follow  the  spirit  of  the  constitu- 
tion rather  than  the  strict  letter  of  its  provisions;  and  I  have  pointed 
out  again  and  again  the  oft-recurring  phrase  in  the  Constitution  which 
makes  the  decision  of  the  Board  of  Directors  in  a  Section  final  and 
conclusive  as  to  proof  of  alleged  facts.  At  this  moment  I  can  hardly 
recall  a  single  instance  in  which  a  Section,  or  the  Association  as  a 
whole,  deliberately  disregarded  my  advice,  and  I  attribute  this  con- 
dition to  the  belief  that  the  employes,  because  they  realized  their  own 
power  in  the  premises,  proceeded  naturally  with  care  and  were  con- 
sequently willing  and  anxious  to  seek  and  take  counsel.  To  make  the 
members  of  the  Association  still  more  conservative  and  deliberate 
in  the  disbursements  of  the  funds,  I  have  taken  every  opportunity  to 
remind  them  of  the  fact  that  they  themselves  are  paying  for  all 
benefits  out  of  their  weekly  dues,  without  any  contribution  on  the  part 
of  the  Company,  and  that,  therefore,  the  whole  responsibility  for  and 
duty  of  maintaining  the  Association  in  good  condition  and  on  a 
sound  financial  basis,  must  rest  squarely  on  the  shoulders  of  the 
members  themselves.  It  must  not  be  inferred  from  this  statement, 
however,  that  the  General  Electric  Company  does  not  take  an  ade- 
quate financial  interest  in  the  Association,  for  the  Company  bears 
the  whole  administrative  expense,  which  includes  the  payment  of 
wages  to  the  secretaries  for  the  time  consumed  in  collecting  dues, 
and  to  members  of  the  Board  of  Directors  when  in  attendance  at 
monthly  or  special  meetings.    The  Company  has  repeatedly  expressed 


VOLUNTARY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  423 

its  willingness  and  desire  to  contribute  to  the  funds  of  the  Associa-  Company's  Aid 
tion,  but  such  offers  have  always  been  declined  by  me  with  thanks. 
In  doing  this  I  believe  I  have  acted  in  accordance  with  the  wishes 
of  the  members  at  large,  whose  natural  pride  has  prompted  the  de- 
sire to  maintain  their  own  organization  for  their  own  direct  benefit 
and  by  their  own  efforts,  as  long  as  this  can  be  done  without  any 
outside  assistance. 

A  recent  extension  of  the  scope  of  work  of  the  Association  is  meet-   special  Loan 

ing    with    much    approval.      Heretofore    a    disabled    member    was    ade-   ^^^^  Grants 

Temporary 

quately  taken  care  of  through  benefits  paid  by  his  Section,  and,  where   Loans  to 

Worthy 
necessary,   through   emergency  benefits   from  the  general   fund.     Menir   Members 

hers  in  good  health,  however,  could  not  obtain  any  financial  assistance 
from  the  Association,  although  they  might  be  much  in  need  of  such 
assistance,  especially  after  a  prolonged  period  of  disability.  It  was, 
therefore,  decided  to  establish  the  "Loan  Fund  of  the  T.  H.  M.  B. 
Association,"  which  shall,  under  proper  regulations  and  restrictions, 
grant  temporary  loans  to  worthy  applicants.  Accordingly,  it  was 
arranged  to  divert  $1,000  of  the  proceeds  of  the  next  entertainments 
of  the  Association  to  the  Loan  Fund,  which  amount  may  be  in- 
creased at  some  future  time  upon  proper  authority  of  the  Emergency 
Fund  Committee.  The  Loan  Fund  has  been  placed  in  charge  of  a 
Board  of  three  Trustees,  with  the  General  Chairman  as  Chairman  and 
Treasurer,  and  the  two  other  Trustees  selected  by  and  from  the  mem- 
bers  of   the   Emergency   Fund    Committee. 

Any   member   of   the  Association    in    good   standing  who   has   been 

Association 

a  member  for  at  least  one  year,  shall  be  entitled  to  a  temporary  loan.    Fully 

Protected 

which    shall    be    paid    back    without    interest    in    such    weekly    instal-   Against  Loss 

ments,   by   order   on   the   Paymaster,   as   the   Board   of  Trustees   may 

decide.      A   member    receiving   a   loan    must,    however,    agree   that    in 

case  of  his  death  prior  to  the  cancellation  of  the  loan,  the  then  unpaid  '• 

amount  of  the  loan  shall  be  deducted  from  the  death  benefit  of  $100 

due  him   from   the  Association.     In  specially  needy  cases,   of  course, 

where    the  heirs   of  the   deceased   should   receive   the   full   amount   of 

$100,    it   will   be   within   the   province   of   the   Emergency   Fund    Com- 


424 


ACCIDENT   PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Membership 
Increased  from 
100  to  5000 
In  Eight  Years 


Association 
Financially 
Sound 


mittee  to  grant  an  emergency  death  benefit  equal  to  the  amount 
withdrawn  for  the  concellation  of  the  loan.  The  Loan  Fund  is  there- 
fore protected  fully  in  regard  to  members  who  might  die  before  the 
cancellation  of  the  loan  and  those  who  remain  in  the  service  of  the 
Company.  Only  when  members  leave  the  service  of  the  Company 
before  having  repaid  the  loans  granted  to  them,  is  ^he  Loan  Fund  in 
danger  of  loss;  yet  the  number  of  such  instances  can  be  minimized 
by  proper  care  on  the  part  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  in  investigating 
the  requests  for  loans. 

The  Thomson-Houston  Mutual  Benefit  Association  was  founded 
eight  years  ago  with  one  Section  and  100  members;  during  the 
following  years  the  membership  increased  steadily,  except  during  the 
year  1907-8,  when  business  depression  necessitated  the  suspension  of 
many  employes.  On  October  1,  1910,  the  Association  could  boast  of 
4,785  members  distributed  over  33  Sections,  and  since  that  time  the 
membership  has  been  further  augmented,  and  today  includes  fully 
5,000  employes.  This  represents  a  very  gratifying  proportion  of  the 
total  number  of  employes, — about  10,000, — considering  the  always 
present  floating  element  among  employes  who  have  no  desire  to 
join  such  an  organization,  and  the  rather  large  number  of  those 
already  insured  against  disability  and  death  through  fraternal  organ- 
izations or  insurance  companies.  Furthermore,  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  the  Lynn  works  employ  nearly  2,000  working  girls  who, 
as  a  class,  are  not  educated  up  to  the  value  of  insurance  and  are  not 
trained  for  co-operative  effort.  The  influence  of  the  Association  will, 
no  doubt,  make  itself  felt  more  and  more  as  time  goes  on,  and  it  is 
hoped  that  eventually  most  of  the  employes  will  be  included  in  its 
membership. 

Should  we  desire  to  measure  the  success  of  the  Association,  we 
would  naturally  turn  to  figures  as  representing  the  financial  benefits 
distributed  among  the  members.  Thus,  we  find  that  the  Association 
disbursed  during  the  year  which  ended  on  October  1,  1910,  $17,459.65, 
of  which  $14,163.80  were  paid  for  disability  benefits  to  690  beneficiaries, 
$495.85  for  emergency  benefits,  and  $2,800  for  death  benefits  to  the 


VOLUNTARY  RELIEF  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  425 

legal  heirs  of  28  deceased  members;  yet  the  treasuries  of  the  Associa- 
tion contained  $8,502.58  of  unexpended  moneys  when  the  new  fiscal 
year  opened.  The  financial  value  of  the  mutual  insurance  plan,  how- 
ever, is  still  better  illustrated  by  the  distribution  of  $92,962.35  during 
the  eight  years  of  the  Association's  existence,  of  which  $77,176  were 
paid  for  disability  benefits  to  2,862  beneficiaries,  $1,139.85  for  emer- 
gency benefits,  and  $14,646.50  for  death  benefits  to  the  legal  heirs 
of  149  deceased  members.  This  is  indeed  a  splendid  tribute  to  the 
usefulness  of  the  Association,  and  its  significance  lies  in  the  fact  that 
this  large  sum  of  money  was  contributed  entirely  by  the  employes 
themselves,  who  willingly  paid  over  their  10-cent  pieces  week  by  week 
in  order  that  they  might  thereby  assist  their  more  unfortunate  co- 
workers, and,  at  the  same  time,  make  some  provision  for  themselves 
should    periods    of    distress    befall    them. 

These  figures,  big  as  they  are,  however,  reveal  only  one   side  of    Rgjations 

the  picture;    the  other  side  has  to  do  with  the  spirit  of  fellowship    Between 

Company  and 

which   has   grown   up   among   the   members   of   the   Association,    and    Employes 

Improved 

with   the  friendly   relatioub   which  have   been   fostered   between   the 

Association  as  a  whole  and  the  Company.  This  value  should  not  be 
underrated. 

Many  plans  have  been  suggested  for  an  extension  of  the  scope  and 
usefulness  of  the  Association,  and  there  is  well-grounded  hope  that 
some  of  these  will  be  carried  into  effect  before  long.  One  of  the 
plans  advocates  the  purchase  of  a  suitable  farm  by  the  Association, 
which  would  serve  as  a  home  and  outdoor  working  place  for  con- 
valescent members,  and  also  as  a  vacation  resort;  it  is  hoped 
at  the  same  time  that,  with  scientific  farming  and  the  sale  of  the  farm 
products  to  the  factory  restaurant  of  the  Lynn  works,  the  farm  may 
also  yield  an  additional  revenue  to  the  Association. 

Another  plan  contemplates  the  establishment  of  lecture  courses.   Association's 

through  which  the  members  may  be  afforded  the  pleasure  of  increased    Scope  to  be 

Extended 
knowledge  on  interesting  subjects  of  timely  importance,  and  receive 

instruction  in  first  aid  treatment  of  injured  persons,  the  use  of  safety 

appliances,  and  the  prevention  of  accidents. 


426 


ACCIDENT    PREVENTION   AND   RELIEF 


Association 
Governed 
Like  a 
Democracy 


The  Thomson-Houston  Mutual  Benefit  Association  at  West  Lynn, 
Mass.,  represents  truly  a  democracy— a  government  of  the  members, 
by  the  members,  and  for  the  members.  Not  unlike  the  United  States 
of  America  (if  such  presumptuous  comparison  may  be  permitted), 
the  Association  is  composed  of  individual  self-governing  Sections,  each 
bearing  the  cost  of  its  own  administration  and  being  supported  for 
this  purpose  by  taxation  of  its  own  members.  All  Sections  are  operat- 
ing under  the  constitution  of  the  Association,  and  the  interpretation 
of  the  provisions  of  the  constitution  and  the  power  of  enforcing  its 
observance  by  all  Sections  have  been  lodged  with  a  central  department, 
that  of  the  general  chairman.  Finally,  as  the  individual  states  of  the 
Union  have  delegated  to  the  Federal  government  certain  functions, 
like  the  conduct  of  the  postal  system,  so  have  the  Sections  delegated 
to  the  Association  as  a  whole  the  payment  of  death  benefits  and 
emergency  benefits,  as  well  as  other  matters  that  can  better  be  at- 
tended to  by  the  whole  Association  than  by  individual  Sections. 


INDEX 


INDEX 

A 

PAGE 

Accident  Compensation,  a  public  debt  in  Germany 49 

compared  with  employers'  liability  in  Germany 293 

Contribution  of  Swiss  Government  to 58 

Growth  of  the  principle  in  Germany 37 

Societies    in    England   put   out    of   business    by    Acts   of   1897 

and  1900  177 

system  rests  with  Employers'  Associations  in  Germany ....  26,  45 

The   "Doctor  Question"   in 54 

Total   expenditures   in   Germany  for fig.  10,  p.  47 

Infe(?tious  diseases  classed  in  Great  Britain,  as 199 

Insurance  a  necessity  in  Germany 307 

Advisability  of  workers  contributing  to  fund  in  Germany 58 

Agriculturists  should  contribute  to 281 

companies  in  Great  Britain  find  difficulty  in  adjusting  rates.  .  228 

cost  of  operating  in  Germany 47,  147 

costs  based  on  industry  hazard  and  extent  of  prevention  efforts 

in  Germany 65 

Deferred  payments  in  German 40 

Estimated  cost  for  50  years  in  Germany 147 

First  Bill  before  Reichstag  in  1881 7 

includes   agricultural   and    horticultural   workers   in   Grermany. 

(frontispiece) 

laws  have  strengthened  trade  unions 293 

operated  by  employers  on  mutual  basis 45,  48,  274 

Organization  receipts,  expenditures  and  funds fig.  8,  p.  36 

principles  of  German   Employers'  Associations 8 

private,  expensive  and  inefficient  in  Germany 308 

probably  menaced  by  new  government  Bill  in  Germany 296 

Proportion  of  cost  borne  by  workers  in  Germany  for 57 

Workers'  contribution  large  enough  in  German 281 

Workers  in  Germany  have  no  part  in  management  of 306 

Insurance  system,  Accurate  statistics   essential  in 268 

benefits  charitable  associations   in   Germany 286,  288 

Contributory  principle  in  the  German 57 

Empiloyers'  Associations  in  Germany  responsible  for  administra- 
tion of   28 

First  year  of  German 33 

has  approval  of  Germany 287 

includes  agricultural  workers  in  Germany 287 

429 


430  INDEX 

PAGE 

Accident  Insurance  System  not  favored  by  Socialists 288 

Objections  of  workers  in  Germany  to 31 

Radical  changes  not  desired  in  Germany  in 292 

Reforms  of  Emperor  William  I,  in  the  German 33 

regarded  as  ideal,  in  Germany 282 

satisfies  employers  in  Germany 31 

satisfies  workers  in  Germany 282 

should  include  agricultural  industries ......  302,  306,  310,  312,  315 

Laws  strengthen  trade  unions  in  Germany • 293 

Litigation  contrary  to  public  welfare 3 

Influence,  socially,  on  the  workers,  of 293 

Meaning  of  term,  a  question  of  law  in  Great  Britain 197 

mental  shock,  in  Great  Britain  held  to  be  an 201 

Prevention  absolutely  necessary  in  United  States 112 

a  business  proposition   99,  100,  112^ 

advanced    in    Germany    by   payment    of   premiums    for   safety 

devices    fig.  43,  facing  p.  101 

compulsory  under  German  law 28^ 

conditions   not    improved    in    England    by    Compensation    Acts 

of  1897  and  1900 17& 

considered  by  agricultural  Employers'  Associations  in  Germany     99- 

Co-operation  of  legislators  in  United  States  needed  for 112" 

Cost  of,  in  Germany fig.  43,  facing  p.  101 

eflSciency  dependent  on  workers'  contributions 58 

Exhibitions  in  Europe  strong  factors  in 118.  123 

fund  in  honor  of  German  Emperor 102 

German  trade  schools  give  instruction  in 127 

Importance  of,  in  the  United  States 99* 

in  Germany  in  chemical  industry fig.  45,  p.  104 ;  fig.  50,  p.  108- 

in  Germany  in  combined  industries. .  .fig.  44,  p.  103;  fig.  49,  p.  108 
in  Germany,  in  glass,  pottery  and  brick  industry 

fig.  48,  p.  107;  fig.  51,  p.  109 
in  Germany,  in  iron  and  steel  industry. fig.  47,  p.  106;  fig.  52,  p.  109 
in  Germany,  in  mining  industry 

fig.  46,  p.  105;  fig.  53,  p.  110;  fig.  54,  p.  Ill 

inseparable   from   compensation 20 

Institution  in  Amsterdam,  oldest  in  Europe 118 

Interest  manifested  in  Germany  upon  subject 101 

laws  in  Germany  require  machine  parts  to  be  made  standard .  .   12J^ 

Magnitude  of  Germany's  system  for 33 

methods  strictly  enforced  in  Germany 317 

more  important  than  compensation  in  Germany 9,  29,  260 

not  considered  in  Great  Britain  in  Act  of  1906 2.50 

on  practical  basis  in  Germany 314 

progress  not  rapid  in  Germany ^ 102 

regarded  as  better  than  cure,  in  Germany 276 

regulations  in  Germany  legally  drafted  by  special  commissions.     31 

spirit  is  strong  in  Germany 12^ 

scientific,    an    important    branch    of    technical    engineering    in 

Germany 100,  276 

Value  of  efiicient  medical  aid  in 260 

Views  of  Institution  at  Vienna  for figs.  67  and  68.  p.  119 

Record  of  new  cases  in  Germany .34,  103 


INDEX  431 

PAGE 

Accidents  due  to  carelessness  in  teaming fig.  122,  p.  393 

Emplo3'ment  should  bear  economic  consequences  of 6,  259 

employer  should  provide  medical  aid  in 265 

from  street  openings,  prevented  by  safety  cover fig.  66,  p.  118 

German  workers   compensated  for  unpreventable 46,  47,  259 

more  speedy  method  of  adjusting  claims  needed 259 

Accidents  in  Canada,  fatal  and  non-fatal (table)   377,  378 

Accidents  in  Germany. 

all  wage  workers  insured  against 33,  302 

Among  farm  hands  from  falls fig.  30,  p.  88.     94 

analysis  of    .• 107 

caused  by  feed  cutting  machines fig.  35,  p.     91 

caused  by  threshing  machines fig.  36,  p.     91 

causes  and  frequency  of  55 figs.  41  and  42,  p.     94 

causes  of  increase  in 27,  52,  110,  112 

comparative  statistics  on   95 

comparison  of  industrial  and  agricultural 71,  86 

compensation  during  last  25  years,  for 33 

compensation  not  necessary  for  minor 313 

compulsory  insurance  against    11,  83 

concentrated  efforts  of  experts  to  reduce  slight 53 

cost  placed  on  manufacturers  for 283 

Death  rate  increased  by  occupational 35,  107 

deaths  in  1905-07  from  occupational fig.  7,  p.     36 

decrease  of  farm    87 

Disastrous  to  small  employer 64 

due  to  fault  of  employers  and  workers 55 

due  to  hazard  of  occupation 55 

farmer  a  factor  in 85,  86 

frequency  and  results  of (frontispiece)      86 

frequency  of,  according  to  age  and  sex fig.  20,  p.     69 

frequency  of,  according  to  days  and  hours fig.  19,  p.     68 

frequency  of,  according  to  days  of  week fig.  22,  p.     71 

frequency  of,   from  animals  in  Germany fig.  42,  p.     94 

from  Farmers'  horsepower  machinery figs.  37  and  38,  p.     92 

growth  of  compensation  for fig.  9,  facing  p.     36 

importance  of  preventing  serious 53 

Increase  of  slight  cases  reported 52 

legal  provision  for  workers  injured  by 28 

of  less  than  13  weeks'  duration fig.  14,  p.     52 

of  more  than  13  weeks'  duration.,  .fig.  14,  p.  52;  fig.  24,  facing  p.     83 

partial  permanent  disability  from   occupational fig.  27,  p.     84 

penalties  provided  for  not  reporting Ill 

pensions  granted  injured  workers  for fig.  9,  facing  p.     36 

permanent  and  complete  disability  caused  by  occupational .  fig.  26,  p.     84 

per  1.00  insured  workers,  all  industries fig.  114,  p.  146 

persons  insured  against    33 

principle  of  compensating  workers  for 55 

promptly  reported  by  employers  and  associations 110 

ratio  of  light   to  serious 52 

responsibility   for  occupational    figs.  15  and  16,  p.     55 

sickness  and  invalidity  insurance 39,  49 

temporary  disability  from  occupational,  in  1908 fig.  28,  p.     85 


432  INDEX 

Accidents  in  Great  Britain.  PAGE 

"arising  out  of  and  in  the  course  of  employment" 195 

authoritative  interpretation  of  term,  by  House  of  Lords 198 

Burden  of  proof  rests  upon  applicant 195 

Discrepancies  in  factory    220 

early  difficulties  of  interpretation 198 

locality  of,  considered  under  Act  of  1906 194 

notice  required • 187 

personal  injury  by t ^^" 

responsibility  for 5 

Accidents  in  Switzerland,  proposed  bill  covering  all 58 

Act  of  1897  in  Great  Britain,  Lack  of  Statistical  data  on 212,  224 

Act   of  1906  in    Great   Britain,   Estimate   of   number  of   persons   cov- 
ered by 215 

increased  field  of  insurance  activity 230 

increased  liability  over  Acts  of  1897  and  1900 235 

Information  required  and  not  required  from  employers  under 217 

insurance  rates  under 231 

Litigation  under 223 

official  inquiry  into  operation  of,  inconclusive 224 

operations  during  years  1908  and  1909 215,  217 

Provision  for  compiling  information  respecting 213 

Statistics  show  burden  of 220 

Actuarial  problems  of  Compensation  Acts  of  Great  Britain 246 

Administration  expense  of  Germany 48 

Agricultural  Accidents. 

according  to  age  and  sex,  in  Germany , 70 

cause  and  frequency  of,  in  Germany fig.  41,  facing  p.  94 

caused  by  vicious  animals,  in  Germany fig.  32,  p.  89 

compared  with  Industrial  accidents  in  Germany 71,  86,  87 

partial  permanent  disability  from,  in  Germany fig.  27,  p.  84 

percentage  of   264 

permanent  and  complete  disability  from,  in  Germany. fig.  26,  p.  84 

responsibility  for,  in  Germany fig.  16,  p.  55 

Resulting    from    cutting    and    hauling    timber,    in    Germany. 

fig.  34,  p.  90 

Resulting  from   teaming,   in   Grermany... fig.  33,  p.  90 

statistics  of  German 25,  64 ;  fig.  84,  p.  136 

temporary  disability  from,  in  Germany fig.  28,  p.  85 

Agricultural  workmen  in  Great  Britain,  under  Act  of  1906 192 

ailments,   German  prevention   of  imaginary 51 

Agriculture. 

a  hazardous  industry  in  Ehigland 171 

Co-operation  in  Germany  of  Industry  and 294,  317 

Hazard  of,  in  United  States  greater  than  in  Germany 93 

Hazard  of,  must  be  considered 87 

included  in  German  compensation  laws (frontispiece),  26,  287 

should    form    part    of    any    national    accident    insurance    system. 

302,  306,  310,  312,  315 

Alberta,  compensation  laws  established  in 15 

Alexander,  Magnus  W. :  Mutual  Insurance  plan  of  the  General  Elec- 
tric Company  415 

American  and  British  compensation,  comparative 166 


INDEX  433 

PAGE 

American  and  European  employers,  co-operation  between 273 

Amsterdam  accident  prevention  institution,  oldest  in  Europe 118 

Animals,  dangerous,  must  be  guarded  in  Germany fig,  31,  p.     89 

Appeal  und-er  Act  of  1906  in  Great  Britain 188 

Arbitration    Court    Awards    in    important    matters    may    be    appealed 

from   in   Germany 77 

decisions    in    Germany — confirmed    or    changed    by    Court   of    Last 

Resort fig.  23,  p.     78 

decisions  in  Germany  made  by  a  majority  of  three  out  of  five  votes.      76 

Employes'  appeals   to,  in  Germany fig.  23,  p.     78 

expenses  in  German  compensation  cases  borne  in  part  by  state ....     77 

fair  and  impartial  in  Germany 78 

for  settling  compensation  disputes,  in  European  countries 

fig.  5,  p.  15.  .265,  266 

judges    in    Germany    selected    from    industry    in    which    accident 

happened   76 

second   step   in   the   German   compensation   system 76 

Arbitration,  judicial,  of  compensation  claims  in  Great  Britain 221 

under  Act  of  1906  in  Great  Britain 187 

Asquith,  Mr.,  measures  to  secure  abolition  of  doctrine  of  common  em- 
ployment in  England    169 

Associations,  voluntary  relief,  in  the  United  States 381 

Australia,  compensation  laws  establisTied  in 15 

Austria,  insurance  associations  in 13 

Austria,  insurance  in  mutual  companies,  compulsory  in.  ..  .fig.  3,  p.  13,     65 

Austria,  simplified  court  procedure  in fig.  5,  p.     15 

Austria,  Territorial  system  of  insurance  in 319 

Austria,  workmen  or  state  contribute  in fig.  4,  p.     14 


B 

Bavarian  Building  industries  Employers'  Association 51 

Belgium,  compensation  laws  established  in 15 

employers  pay  whole  compensation  in fig.  4,  p.     14 

optional  insurance  for  workers  in fig.  3,  p.     13 

simplified  court  procedure  in fig.  5,  p.     15 

Benefits  paid  injured  workers  during  1908  in  Germany 34 

Bengsch,  Franz,  Chairman  East  German  Inland  Navigation  Elhiployers' 

Association 297 

Berlin,  Accident  Prevention  Institution   in 120 

Beven,  Thomas,  on  Workman's  compensation  legislation  in  Great  Britain  207 

Bismarck,  Prince,   and   German   manufacturers 37 

effect  of  policies    7 

prime  mover  in  German  compensation  reform 26 

statement    on    freedom    of    organization    and    obligatory    results    in 

Germany 278 

success  in  compensation  legislation  due  to  personality  of 274 

Blum,  E. :  Chairman  Board  of  Directors,  Northeastern  Iron  and  Steel 

Employers'  Association 306 

Boediker,  Doctor,  first  president  of  German  Imperial  Insurance  Ofiice.  .        7 
Brabrook,    Sir  Edward,   late   Chief   Registrar  of   Friendly   Societies   in 

Great  Britain   254 


434  INDEX 

PAGE 

Brandeis,  Louis   55 

Brewers'  and  Malsters'  Association  of  Germany 310 

Brewing  and  Malting  in  Germany,  frequency  and  results  of  accidents 

in   (frontispiece) 

Industry,   injured  workers   in fig.  83,  p.  135 

Brick  making  in  Germany,  frequency  and    results  of  accidents   in 

(frontispiece) 

industry,  injured  workers  in fig.  109,  p.  144 

British  and  American  compensation,  comparative ^ 16G 

British  Columbia,  compensation  laws  established  in 15 

Brown,   Stanley,  manager  of  Employers'  Liability  Insurance  Company 

of  Great  Britain   235 

Budapest :  accident  prevention  institution  in 120 

Building   Industries,    Bavarian,   Employers'   Association 51 

comparison  of  accidents  in,  with  agricultural,  in  Germany 86 

comparison  of  New  York  and  German  insurance  rates 

fig.  11(3,  p.  152 

frequency  and  results  of  accidents  in,  in  Germany (frontispiece) 

hazardous  occupations  in 83 

included   in   German   compensation   laws 26 

injured  workers  in,  in  Germany fig.  92,  p.  138 

rates  of  insurance  before  and  after  enactment  of  Law  of  1910  in 

New  York    fig.  115,  p.  1 51 

Building,  workmen  on,  under  Act  of  1906  in  Great  Britain 192 

C 

Canada,  compensation  laws  established  in 15 

Fatal  and  non-fatal  accidents  by  trades  in (table)   377,  378 

Carelessness,  human,  not  prevented  by  safety  appliances 103 

Cause  and  frequency  of  agricultural  accidents  in  Germany ...  fig.  41,  p.     94 

Central  Federation  of  German  Industrialists 326 

Chamberlain,  Joseph,  on  Act  of  1897 9,  169 

Charity  associations  in  Germany  benefited  by  accident  insurance  sj'stems  286 

Charity,  public,  relieved  by  accident  insurance  system  of  Germany 288 

Chemical  industry   in   Germany,   accident  prevention  in 

fig.  45,  p.  104;   fig.  50,  p.  108 

Frequency  and  results  of  accidents  in (frontispiece) 

Injured  workers  in    fig.  104,  p.  142 

Rates  before  and  after  enactment  of  Law  of  1910  in  New  York, 

in fig.  115,  p.  151 

Cheney  Brothers  Silk  Mills,  South  Manchester,  Conn fig.  130,  p.  400 

Industrial  insurance  and  old  age  pension  system  at 401 

Cheney,  Howell,  of  Cheney  Brothers,   South  Manchester,  Conn.,   state- 
ment by 401 

Chimney    sweeping    in    Germany,    frequency    and    results    of    accidents 

in    (frontispiece) 

Civil  Law  of  Europe,   Contributory  negligence   formerly   not   a   liar   to 

recovery    under    163 

Claims,  compensation,  adjustment  of 266 

Filing  of,  in  Great  Britain 187 

Judicial  arbitration  of,  in  Great  Britain 221 

Mode  of  collecting  in  Great  Britain 187 

promptly  adjusted  in  Great  Britain  under  Act  of  1906 206 


INDEX  435 

PAGE 

Class  hatred  eliminated  by  German  compensation  system 300 

Clerks  under  Act  of  1906  in  Great  Britain 192 

Clothing  industry,   frequency  and  results  of  accidents  in  Germany,  in 

(frontispiece) 

Injured  workers  in  Germany,  in fig.  87,  p.  137 

Collective  responsibility   in   Germany 28 

Collie,   Doctor,  authority  on  medico-legal  aspects  of  Compensation  Act 

of  Great  Britain   234 

medical  referee  of  the  English  Home  Office 254 

Commerce  and  Labor,  statement  by  Secretary  of 381 

Commissions  in  Germany,  workers  are  represented  in 31 

Committee   on  Industrial  Liability  Insurance  and  Accident   Prevention 
of  the  National  Association  of  Manufacturers,  findings  and 

recommendations    of    259 

Common  ■employment  in  England,  agitation  for  abolition  of  defense  of.  .   163 
Common  Law  in  I^ngland,  basis  of  present  American  liability  laws. .  .   157 

first   statutory   modification   of 161 

Comparative  hazard  of  industry  and  farm  in  Germany 

figs.  24-25,  facing  p.     83 

Compensation,  accident  prevention   inseparable  from 20 

administration  by  contributors  or  state,  the  best  method  of.  ...262,  263 
comparative    value    of    American,    British,    and    Germans    systems 

of   \.  150,  166 

Comparison  of  insurance   rates  in  New  York  and  Germany,  for 

fig.  116,  p.  152 

Dates  of  establishment  of  laws,  in  various  countries  for 15 

Difficult  to  make  equitable  rates  of .     66 

Limitation  of  period  of 265 

Mutual  principle  will  lessen  cost  of 67 

Principle  should  apply  to  all  employments 264 

Uniform  principles  needed  in  United  States  for 266 

Compensation  in  Europe. 

Contributory   principle   in  ' 14 

Countries  in  which  employers  pay  all fig.  4,  p.     14 

Countries  in  which  workers  or  state  contribute  to fig.  4.  p.     14 

disputes,  settled  by  simplified  court  procedure fig.  5,  p.     15 

Financial   responsibility,   of   employers  for 63 

Insurance  the  best  guarantee  of 63 

Judicial  settlement  of  claims  for -.15,  266 

laws   for  injured   workers   in  all   European   countries  but   Switzer- 
land  fig.  2,  p.     12 

legislation  proceeds  from  carefully  compiled  information 211 

not    regarded    as   complete    indemnity 265 

practically  all  employments   included  in 19 

provides  for  expeditious  adjustment  of  claims 265 

systems  in  European  countries fig.  2,  p.     12 

The    ^'Doctor   Question"    in 54 

through   compulsory    insurance    fig.  3,  p.     13 

Compensation  in  Germany. 

Accident  verdicts  for,  disastrous  to  small  employers 64 

a  public  debt  to  injured  workers 49 

burden   placed   upon   each   industry  in   Germany 64 

Economic  and   legal   basis  of 27 


436  INDEX 

PAGE 

Compensation  in  Germany  for  accidents  to  workers 33,  47,     99 

lessened  by  medical  equipment  of  Vienna  Institution 51 

less  important  tlian  accident  prevention 29 

Method   of  determining  amount   of 75,  76 

Method  of  payment  of 31,     78 

not  necessary  for  minor  accidents 313 

Pensions  granted  to  injured  workers  for fig.  9,  p.     36 

Prince  Bismarck,  prime  mover  in  reform  in. 26 

Principle  of    ^ 55 

Proportion  of  costs  borne  by  workers  for 57 

Right  of  injured   workmen   to 28 

Small  employers  strive  for  high  rate  of,  for  injured  workers 78 

temporary,  for  minor  accidents 299 

Compensation  Claims  in  Germany,  judicial  settlement  of.  ...fig.  23,  p.     78 

Percentage  of  disputed 78 

Compensation  Fund  in  Germany,  based  upon  industrial  hazard  and  pre- 
vention efforts    65 

Government  contributes  to   49 

Workers  have  no  voice  in  the  administration  of 58 

Insurance  in  Germany,  an  aid  to  prosperity 277 

appreciated   by  workers    280,  298 

costs  of,  to  employers 132 

Decision  by  employers'  association  commission,  first  step  in .  .      75 

does  not  strengthen  trade  unions 301,  309,  314 

during   past   25    years 33 

effect  of  on  manufacturers 295 

eliminates  distress,  misery,  and  class  hatred 295,  300 

Employers  wish  to  continue 312 

Expense  of  administration  of fig.  11,  p.  47,  48,  147 

-fatal  to  socialistic  doctrines 317 

Financial  responsibility  of  employers  for 63 

First  year  of   33 

increases  confidence  of  workers  in  employers 301 

Influence  on  workers  of 275 

lessens  workmen's  sense  of  responsibility 295 

protects  employes  and  employers 300,  320 

Theory    of    56 

Total  expenditures  for fig.  10,  p.     47 

versus  employers'  liability 293 

legislation    in    Germany,    administered    by   employers,    under   state 

supervision     26,     46 

an   authority    22,  297 

effect  of,  on  trade  unions 317 

First  enactment  of 26 

Relation  of  injured  workmen  to 251 

First  revision  of 26 

system    in   Germany  comprehensive 36,  37,  284,  302 

does  not  interfere  with  self-government 279 

Growth   of    fig.  9,  p.  36,     37 

Medical  attention  a  part  of 48 

most  beneficial  legislation  ever  enacted 296 

must  have  definite  date  for  payment  to  be  successful 67 

satisfies  manufacturers    303,  311 


INDEX  437 

PAGE 

Compensation    (in  Great  Britain). 

Act  of  1897,  amendment  of  Mr.  Chamberlain  to 169 

Burden  of  compensation  upon  employer  not  excessive  in 178 

Conditions  of   169,  170,  171 

created  less  liability  than  Act  of  1906 235 

experimental    in    character 171 

first  compensation   measure  passed  by  Parliament 169 

Imperfections  of  172,  173 

Operations    unrecorded    173^  174 

repealed  in  1906 172 

Spirit    of    , : 250 

Acts  of  1897  and  1900,  affected  employment  of  elderly  or  maimed 

persons    179,  180 

involved  less  liability  to  employers  than  Act  of  1906 235 

productive  of  litigation 175,  176 

Remedies  suggested  by  departmental  committee  for 180 

Societies  destroyed   by 177 

Unoercainty  as  to  liability  of  employers,  under  tlie 178 

Act  of  1906,  Amount  of  compensation  under 186,  193 

Compensation    and    medical    examination    subject    to    revision 

under   188 

discourages  contracts  outside  of  its  terms 242 

does  not  require  medical  attention 250 

Effect  upon  employment  of  elderly  and  defective  men,  by.  .253,  254 

Insurance  rates   under  the (table)   232,  233 

Loss  from  underwriting  risks  under 235 

preferred  by  workmen  to  Employers'  Liability  Act 223 

Statistics  and  proceedings  of 215 

Summary  of  decided  principles  of 202 

Text    of    the 331-351 

unworthy  of  imitation  in  many  features 255,  266 

claims   in    Great   Britain,   affected   by   serious   and   willful   miscon- 
duct      203,  260 

Employers  personally  liable  for 170 

Filing  of    187 

Judicial  settlement  of 206,  221 

may  be  enforced  by  ordinary  process  of  execution 187 

not  barred  by   recklessness 204 

Insurance,  Amount  paid  during  1909,  for 227 

Increases  in  tariff  rates  for (table)   236 

carried  at  a  loss 237 

Erroneous  computation  of  cost  of 219 

includes  industrial  diseases 205 

position  of  underwriters  in 246 

Legislation,   Actuarial  problems  of 246 

Circumstances    producing    249 

first  measure  did  not  provide  insurance  fund 169 

increases  demand  for  liability  insurance 227 

influenced  by  trade  unions 249 

Liability  of  employers  before  adoption  of 157 

Primal    defects    of 249,  253 

proceedings  not   limited   as   to  time 206 

secured  by  workmen  after  action  at  law 189 


438  INDEX 

PAGE 

Compensation  statistics  in  Great  Britain,  conclusions  on 224 

Incompleteness  of 218,  224 

Suicide  bars  recovery  of 203 

under  Act  of  1880 1C5 

Compensation  in  Switzerland,  government  contribution  to 58 

Compensation   in   United    States 

Adjustment  of    269 

American   workmen   entitled   to 5 

rates  in  New  York  must  be  increased § 151 

rates  in  Ohio 152 

recognition  of,  principle  of 48 

Restricted   statute   of 18 

Sound   policy  a  prime  consideration  in 266,  267 

Voluntary  action  by  emploj-ers  should  receive  encouragement 267 

Will  attract  farm  labor 94 

Competition,  obligatory  workers'  insurance  has  reduced  unfair 38 

in  Germany  prevented  by  uniform  distribution  of  burden 308 

Compulsory  insurance,   European   countries   protecting   all   wag€   work- 
ers     fig.  3,  p.     13 

European  countries,  protecting  part   of  wage   earners.  ,.  .fig.  .3,  p.     13 

growth   of,   in   Europe fig.  3,  p.  13,     65 

recommended    in    Germany 313 

Compulsory  standards  for  machinery  enforced  in  German  accident  pre- 
vention system   128 

Compulsory  versus  voluntary  insurance  in  Germany 319 

Constitution    of    United    States    exercises    sharp    restraint    on    legisla- 
tures     20,     21 

Contracting  out  of  the  Act  of  1906  in  Great  Britain 186,  243 

Contributions  by  employes,  value  of 263 

equitable  adjustment  of  compensation  and 56 

joint,  fosters  harmonious  relations  between  employers  and  workers.      57 

Contributions,  employers',  in  Germany fig.  17,  p.     58 

Contributions,  workers',  in  Germany,  a  negligible  quantity 305 

in  Germany,  necessary 294,  311 

in  Germany,  to  mutual  social  insurance fig.  13,  p.     49 

in  Germany,  proportion  to  employers' fig.  17,  p.     58 

in  Germany,  satisfactory 310,  317 

in   Germany,  simplify  practical   working  of  system 315 

Contributors  in  Germany,  representative  powers  of 58 

Contributory  insurance  distinct  from  personal  liability 20 

negligence    formerly    not    a    bar    to    recovery    under    Civil    Law    of 

Europe   163 

principle,  a  lawyer's  view  of 55,     56 

in  Europe  fig.  4,  p.  14 ;  fig.  17,  p.     58 

mutual,  as  proposed  in  Switzerland fig.  18,  p.     58 

Co-operation  between  employers  and  insurance  companies  may  decrease 

insurance  uates   65,     66 

of  agriculture  and  industry  in  Germany 294 

of  legislators  in  accident  prevention  necessary  in  the  United  States.    112 

of  wage  workers   important 55 

Correct    method    of    removing     twine    from     shaft    of    spinning     ma- 
chine     fig.  129,  p.  398 

Craft  organizations  in  Germany,  employers  compelled  by  law  to  join..  .       8 


INDEX  489 


Dairy,    DistilleiT    and    Starch    Industries    in    Germany,    frequency    and 

results  of  accidents  in (frontispiece) 

22  years'  German  history  of  injured  workers  in fig.  86,  p.  136 

Damage  suits  eliminated  in  Germany 314 

Dangerous  animals,  must  be  guarded,  in  Germany fig.  31,  p.  89 

parts  of  machinery  painted  red,  in  Germany fig.  29,  p.  88 

Death  Causes  in  German^-,  in  1905-07 fig.  7,  p.  36 

Deaths  in  Germany,  growth  of,  compensation,  for  accidental,  .fig.  9,  p.  36 

from  diseases  in  1905-07 fig.  7,  p.  3G 

from  occupational  accidents 

fig.  6,  p.  35;  'fig.  7,  p.  36;  fig.  25,  facing  p.  83 
Decisions    by    Arbitration    Courts    in    compensation    claims,    in    Ger- 
many     fig.  23,  p.  78 

by    Court    of    Last    Resort     (Senate)     in    compensation    claims    in 

Germany fig.  23,  p.  78 

by     Employers'     Associations     in     compensation     claims     in     Ger- 
many  fig.  23,  p.  78 

effect  on  rates  in  Great  Britain  of  judicial 230 

Denmark,  compulsory  insurance  for  part  of  wage  workers  in.  .fig.  3,  p.  13 

simplified  court  procedure  in fig.  5,  p.  15 

workmen  or  state  contribute  in fig.  4,  p.  14 

Debtors'  Act  of  1869  in  Great  Britain 187 

Departmental  committee  of  1904  in  England,  investigation  and  findings 

by    the    175,  176,  177,  178,  179,  180,  181,  182 

Dependents  in  Great  Britain  entitled  to  compensation  under  Act  of  1906  186 
Devices,    life    saving,    in    German    accident    prevention,    premiums   paid 

for   fig.  43,  facing  p.  101 

Disability,    partial    permanent,    from    occupational    accidents    in    Ger- 
many     fig.  27,  p.  84 

permanent  and  complete,  caused  by  agricultural  accidents  in  Ger- 
many     fig.  26,  p.  84 

permanent  and  complete,  caused  by  occupational  accidents  in  Ger- 
many     fig.  26,  p.  84,  107 

temporary,     caused     by     occupational     accidents    in     Germany,     in 

1908    fig.  28,  p.  85,  107 

Disease  in  Great  Britain,  employer  liable  for 231,  255 

Diseases,  deaths  from,  in  Germany,  in  1905-07 fig^  7,  p.  36 

industrial,  compensation  for  in  Great  Britain 205 

infectious,  classed  as  accident  in  Great  Britain 199 

Occupational,  in  Great  Britain,  Marked  increase  in 221 

Distillery,   dairy,   and  starch   industries   in   Germany,  frequency  and  re- 
sults  of  accidents   in (frontispiece) 

Doctrine  of  common  emplo.vment,  English 

'•fellow  servant"  established  by  Chief  Justice  Shaw  in  the  United 

States  in  1842    162 

"fellow    servant"    in    England,   established    in    Priestly   vs.    Fowler 

case    162,  164 

personal  liability  in  Great  Britain 249 

Domestic  service,   statistics   in   Germany 25 

statistics   in   United   States 25 

Drew,  Walter :    Farm  Hazards  in  the  United  States 93,  94 

Drivers  and  conductor  under  Act  of  1906  in  Great  Britain 192 


440  INDEX 

E 

PAGE 

East  German  Inland  Navigation  Employers'  Association 297 

Education,   inspection   and   accident   prevention   essential   to  successful 

system     267 

Efficiency,  interest  increasing  in  national 4 

judicial,  high  character  of  British 206 

of  accident  prevention  in  Germany  dependent  upon  workers'  con- 
tributions   58 

of  German  insurance  system ^ 47 

of  German  workers,  policy  to  increase 147 

of  the  Germany  system  of  compensation  for  occupational  accidents.  47 

of  workers  in  Germany  increased  by  industrial  relief 101 

required   in   Medical   attendants   in   Germany 53 

Electrical  and  mechanical  trades  in  Germany,  frequency  and  results  of 

accidents  in   (frontispiece) 

statistics   of    38 

Electro-magnets  for  safely  loading  and  unloading  scrap  iron . .  fig.  74,  p.  124 

Elevators  and  lifting  engines  in  Germany,  causes  and  frequency  of  acci- 
dents by  fig.  42,  facing  p.  94 

Emery  wheels,  injuries  from  carelessness  while  using fig.  123,  p.  394 

with  safety  guards  for  protecting  workers'  limbs fig.  62,  p.  115 

Emperor  William  I  of  Germany,  Accident  insurance  reform  of 33 

Employe,  right  of  action  in  England  formerly  ended  with  death  of . . .  .  160 

insurance  systems  strive  to  bring  together  employer  and 20 

regarded  as  an  unknown  hazard  in  Great  Britain  by  employer. .  . .  253 

Employer  and  employe  benefited  by  Germany's  compensation  system . . .  278 

general    fortunes    of 4 

Ehnployer,  bound  at  common  law  not  to  expose  workmen  to  unnecessary 

risk   159 

Employer  (individual),  not  burdened  with  compensation  in  Germany..  64 

protected  by  organization 30 

Employer    in    Germany    must    join    compensation    association    in    his 

industry    28 

pays  33  per  cent,  of  sickness  funds 76 

Employer  in   Great   Britain   an  instrumentality   to   relieve  indigence..  250 

forced  to  regard  employe  as  an  unknown  hazard 253 

formerly  indemnified  injured  workmen  on  establisliment  of  liability  160 
formerly  relieved  of  liability  if  injured  man  had  agreed  to  take  risk 

of  employment   160 

held  liable  for  injuries  resulting  from  disease 231 

liable    for   disease 255 

liable  for  medical  and  funeral  expenses  under  Act  of  1906 186 

Liability  of,  under  Act  of  1906 185,  186 

nature  of  liability  under  Act  of  1906  imposed  on 189 

not  liable  formerly  for  negligence  of  his  agent 159 

pecuniary  burden  of  compensation  not  excessive  under  compensa- 
tion Act  of  1897 , 178 

personally  liable  for  injuries  received  by  workmen 170 

right  of  action  formerly  ended  with  death  of 160 

workmen  can  secure  compensation  after  action  at  law  from 189 

workman  preferred  creditor  in  case  of  insolvency  of 187 

Employer  in  United  States,  degree  of  duty  of 3 


INDEX  441 

PAGE 

Employer  and  employe,  Accidents  due  to  fault  of,  in  Germany 55 

antagonized  by  present  laws  in  United  States 75 

given  demonstrations  at  German  accident  appliance  exhibitions....   123 

Insurance  systems,  strive  to  bring  together 20 

protected   by   German   compensation  system 300 

Relations  of,  under  German  system 75 

under  common  law,  in  Great  Britain 158 

Employers,  Accident  verdicts  disastrous  to  small  German 64 

administer  compensation  law   in  Germany 46 

adverse  to  change  of  system 309 

Appeals  decided  in  favor  of,  by  Arbitration  Court  in  Germany 

fig.  23,  p.     78 

Average   ratio  of,   to  workers  in  Germany 64 

bear  burden  of  insurance 283 

Benefited  by  compulsory  insurance .;,. 286 

Character  of  information  not  required  under  British  Act  of  1906, 

from     217 

Compelled  by  law  to  join  craft  organization 8,  45 

Compensation  system  increases  confidence  of  German  workers  in,.   301 
contribute   toward    maintenance   of  social   insurance  system,   aided 

by  state  and  workers 49 

Co-operation  between  European  and  American 273 

Co-operation    of,    with    insurance    companies    may    improve    insur- 
ance rates   66 

Co-operation  with  legislators  necessary  in  the  United  States 112 

Costs  of  compensation  insurance  to 132 

Dissatisfaction  against  present  insurance  burdens  by  small  German     32 

Effective    organization    among 30 

Efforts  to  secure  highest  rate  of  compensation  for  injured  workers 

by   small    78 

Financial    responsibility    of,    in    Europe 63 

German  Government's  attitude  respecting 46 

Importance  in  German  industrial  insurance  of  the  small ,     64 

Importance  of  immediate  medical  attention  recognized  by  progres- 
sive  American    50 

Increased  power  over  sickness  insurance  funds  desired  by 59 

Information  required,  under  Act  of  1906.  in  Great  Britain,  from..   217 
Joint    contribution    fosters    harmonious    relations   between   workers 

and    57 

liable  for  injuries  caused  by  personal  negligence,  in  Great  Britain.  .   159 

may  contract  out  with  employes  in  Great  Britain 243 

National  relief  system  will  not  interfere  with  action  of  individual.   381 

of  farm  help  should  co-operate  in  accident  insurance 281 

pay  third  of  the  sickness  insurance  fund,  in  Germany 57 

pay   whole   compensation   in   Belgium,   England,   Finland,   Holland, 

Hungary,    Italy   and   Spain fig.  4,  p.     14 

Percentage    of    premiums    reaching    injured    workmen    in    United 

States,   paid  by 219 

Provisions  against  insolvency  of  small  British 179 

relieved  of  responsibility   in  Germany 316 

safeguarded  from  excess  liability  by  obligatory  insurance 30 

satisfied  with  present  accident  insurance  system 31 


442  INDEX 

PAGE 

JE?mployers    should  be  given  freedom  in  selecting  insurance 67 

should  provide  first  medical  aid  in  accidents 265 

uncertainty   of,   as  to   liability   under   Compensation   Acts   of   1897 

and  1900 178 

united  by  compulsory  insurance  in  Germany 38 

Value  of  organizing  by  industries  by 285 

Voluntary   action    of,    in    compensation    should    receive    public    en- 
couragement       267 

wish  to  continue  compensation  system  in  Germanjit 312 

would  rather  pay  whole  cost  of  compensation  than  allow  workers' 

representation  in  Germany 59 

JEmployers'   associations   in   Germany 28 

Accident  insurance  in  hands   of 274 

Accident  prevention  and  compensation  system  rests  with... 26,  28,     45 

Agricultural    workers    in 64 

are  establishing  reserve  funds  in  Germany 41 

Bavarian    Building    Industries 51 

carry  accident  insurance  on  mutual  basis • 48 

Claims  decided  by fig.  23,  p.     78 

Decision  by  commission  is  first  step  in  compensation  awards 75 

for    the    brick    industry 299 

for  the  chemical  industry .' 296 

for  the  leather  industry 282,  283,  284 

given  power  to  enforce  accident  prevention  and  insurance  rules.  ...     45 

have  taken  steps  to  reduce  simulation 54 

Independence    of    32 

Industrial  statistics  of,  more  perfect  than  agricultural 102 

in  harmony  with  Government  inspectors 71,  275,  276 

Legal   powers   of 275 

officials  serve   without  pay 48 

Principles   of    8 

promptly    report    accidents 110 

Qualifications  required  for  factory  inspectors  of 74 

should  co-operate  with  insurance  companies 65 

statistics  of,  for  electrical  and  mechanical  trades 38 

Taxation  levied  by  trusted  officers  of 30 

Value  of    308 

Employers'  contributions  in  Germany fig.  17,  p.     58 

fault  need  not  be  proven  in  Germany 28 

Accidents  due  to 55 

Employers'  liability  in  Germany 131 

Act  of  1880  in   Great  Britain  did  not  stop  agitation  for  further 

increase   of    169 

Employers'    liability,    Decisions    of   principles    respecting   compensation 

under  Act  of  1906  in  Great  Britain  regarding 202 

Business  and  results  of  four  largest  insurance  companies  in  1909, 

in    Great    Britain (table)   240 

Business   of   fifty-five   companies    in    1908   in    Great   Britain 

(table)   238,  239 

Development  in  Great  Britain  of 158 

Fallacy  of  method  used  to  compute  cost  in  United  States  of 219 

greater  than  in  Great  Britain 165 


INDEX  448 

PAGE 

Employers'   liability    in    Switzerland 11 

Employers'  Liability  in  United  States,  basis  of 5 

prior  to  Compensation  Acts  in  Great  Britain 157 

Provisions  of  Act  of  1897  in  Great  Britain 170 

Employers'  Liability  system  in  United  States  wasteful 45 

under  Law  of  1871  in  Germany 7 

under  Lord  Campbell's  Act  extended  to  their  representatives 161 

versus  accident  compensation  in  Germany 293 

Employers'  Liability  Act,  enacted  in  1880  in  Great  Britain 164,  165 

Cost  of  administration  in  Great  Britain 242 

of  1880  in  Great  Britain  followed  in  p'art  by  some  American  States  165 

Workmen  in  Great  Britain  prefer  Compensation  Act  to 223 

Employers'  liability  law,  Amendment,  in  1897,  in  Great  Britain,  to....   169 

based  on  English  common  law  in  America 157 

Employers'   membership   in   accident   insurance  associations   compulsory 

in   Germany    45 

premiums    in    proportion    to    workers    and    State    as    proposed    in 

Switzerland    fig.  18,  p.     58 

responsibility  for  accidents  in  Germany 8 

E'mployes,  Appeals  of,  decided  by  Arbitration  Courts  in  Germany 

fig.  23,  p.     78 

Appeals  of,  to  Court  of  Last  Resort,  in  Germany fig.  23,  p.     78 

can    recover   for   injuries   resulting   from   employers'   negligence,   in 

Great    Britain    159 

Lord  Herschell  on  master's  duties  to 159 

not   to  be   exposed   to   unnecessary   risk,   in  Great  Britain,   by  com- 
mon  law 159 

Value  of  contributions  by 263 

Employments,  Compensation  principle  should  apply  to  all 264 

Contract  and  circumstances  of,  under  common  law  in  Great  Britain.  158 

Economic  consequences  of  accidents  should  be  borne  by  the 259 

English  doctrine  of  common 169 

Engineering     and      Shipbuilding     Employers'     Association     of     Great 

Britain   127,  244,  245 

Engineering  work  a  hazardous  industry  in  England 171 

Engineering  workmen  under  Act  of  1906  in  Great  Britain 192 

England,   Act   of   1880   did   not   stop   agitation   for  further   increase   of 

Employers'    liability    in 169 

Additional   liability   legislation   in 169 

Agitation  for  abolition  of  defense  of  common  employment 163 

Amendment  to  Law  of  1897  relating  to  employers'  liability  in 169 

Ancient  duty  of  master  not  to  expose  workmen  to  unnecessary  risks  159 
Case    of    Priestly    vs.    Fowler    establishing    "Fellow    Servant    Doc- 
trine"  162,  164 

Colonies   establishing   the   compensation   laws  of 15 

Commissions  from,  sent  to  Germany  for  study 148 

Comparison  of  trade  risk  between  Germany  and 10 

Compensation  Act  of  1897  confined  to  hazardous  industries  in 171 

Compensation  Act  of  1897  repealed  in  1906 172 

Compensation  Acts  of  1897   and   1900  destroyed  accident  compen- 
sation societies   in 177 

productive    of    litigation    in 175,  176 


444  INDEX 

PAGE 

England,  Compensation  legislation  strives  to  fix  liability  for  injury  in.   205 

Compensation  legislation  strives  to  fix  liability  for  injury  in 205 

Compensation  conditions  of,  under  Act  of  1897  in 169,  170,  171 

■  Compensation  under  the  Act  of  1880  in 165 

Compulsory  insurance  recommended  as  most  effectual  by  Depart- 
mental   Committee    182 

Creation  of  tbe  Departmental  Committee  of  1904  in 17tt 

Defense  of  assumed  risk  in 169 

Departmental    Committee    favors    insurance    to    pergonal    liability 

in   181,  182 

Departmental  Committee  of  1904  in 10 

Development  of  employers'  liability  in 158 

Early  diflSculty  of  proving  liability  in 161 

EflRciency  of  German  workers  recognized  in 148 

Employer  formerly  indemnified  injured  workmen  on  establishment 

of  liability  in 160 

Employer  formerly  not  liable  for  negligence  of  his  agent,  in ...  .   159 
Employer  formerly  relieved  of  liability  if  injured  man  had  agreed 

to  take  risk  of  employment 160 

Employers  formerly  liable  for  injury  caused  by  personal  negligence.  159 

Employers'  liability  greater  in  the  United  States  than  in 165 

Employers  pay  whole  compensation  in fig.  4,  p.     14 

Employers'    personally    liable    to    pay    limited    compensation    for 

injury    in     170 

Employment  of  elderly  or  maimed  persons  affected  by  Compensa- 
tion Acts  of  1897  and   1900  in 179,   180,   253,  254 

Enactment  of  Employers'  Liability  Act  of  1880  in 164,  165 

Established  custom  basis  of  law  in 21 

Extension  of  liability  to  representatives  of  employers  under  Lord 

Campbell's   Act    161 

"Fatal  Accidents  Act  of  1846"  in 161 

First  statutory  modification  of  common  law  in  1846  in 161 

Imperfections  of  the  Compensation  Act  of  1897  in 172,  173 

Importance  of  conclusive  evidence  by  medical  referee  in 181 

Impossible  to  get  a  finding  of  serious  and  willful  misconduct  in.  180,  181 
Industrial  safety  not  improved  by  Compensation  Acts  of  1897  and 

1900  in    176 

Insurance  rates  lower  in  Germany  than  in 146 

Investigation    findings    by    the    Departmental    Committee    of    1904 

in   175,  176,  177,  178,  179,  180,  181,  182 

Liability,  extent  of,  under  Act  of  1880,  in 165 

Lord  Campbell's  Act  in 160 

Obligation  under  the  common  law  in 159 

Operations  of  the  Compensation  Act  of  1897  unrecorded  in ... .  173,  174 

Optional  insurance  for  workers  in fig.  3,  p.     13 

Parliament  passes  first  compensation  measure  in  1897  in 169 

Parliament  remedied  defects  in  common  law,  Middle  of  19th  cen- 
tury  in    158 

Pecuniary   burden    of   Compensation   Act   of   1897   upon    employer 

not  excessive  in 178 

Principles  and   policy  of  liability  legislation  in 9 

Provisions  against  insolvency  of  the  small  employer  in 179 


INDEX  445 

PAGE 

England,  Provisions  of  Employers*  Liabilitj^  Act  of  1897  in 170 

England,   Remedies  as   to   Compensation   Acts  of  1897  and   1900  sug- 
gested by  the  Departmental  Committee  in 180 

Right  of  action  formerly  ended  with  death  of  employer  or  employe 

in 160 

Scop€  of  Compensation  Act  in 171 

Simplified    court    procedure    in.  .  » fig.  5,  p.     15 

Special  obligations  to  workmen  under  old  compensation  laws  in . . .   159 

Statutory  laws  of,  copied  into  United  States  legislation 158 

Uncertainty    of   employers'    liability    under    Compensation    Acts    of 

1897  and  1900  in • 177,  178 

English  Common  Law  is  basis  of  present  American  liability  laws 157 

English,  Contrast  between  German  legislation  and 7 

Doctrine  of  common  employment 169 

German  and  United  States  accident  compensation,  compared  with  150 

system  of  law  proverbially  conservative 157 

views  of  German  system 148 

Europe,  Accident  prevention  exhibitions  strong  factors  in 118 

accident  prevention  institution  at  Amsterdam  is  oldest  in 118 

Compensation    legislation    proceeds   from    carefully   compiled    infor- 
mation  in 211 

Compensation  through  compulsory  insurance  in fig.  3,  p.     13 

Contributory    negligence    formerly    not    a    bar    to    recovery    under 

civil  law  of ]  63 

Contributory    principle    in fig.  4,  p.     14 

Created  Right  of  Recovery  in 63 

Financial   responsibility   of   employers   in 63 

Growth  of  compulsory  insurance  in 65 

Injured   workers'   relief   in fig.   2,   p.     12 

Insurance  best  guarantee  of  compensation  in 63 

Legislation  principles  in 259 

Practically  all  employments  included  in  compensation  in 19 

European  and  American  employers,  co-operation  between 273 

European  compensation  legislation,  comparison  of 16 

European  compensation  systems  provide  for  expeditious  adjustment  of 

claims   265 

countries,  extent  of  contributory  principle  in 58 

legislation,  adapted  to  our  form  of  government  would  prove  bene- 
ficial     260 

systems.  Compensation  not  regarded  as  complete  indemnity  under.   265 
Examinations,  Applicants  for  employment  in   Great  Britain  must  un- 
dergo  physical    231 

Excavating  and  tunneling.  Injured  workers  in fig.  98,  p.  140 

included  in  German  compensation  laws 26 

"Excepted"  persons  in  Great  Britain  under  Act  of  1906 190 

Expenditures,   receipts,  and  funds  of  accident  compensation  system  of 

Germany     fig.  8,  p.     36 

Expert  prevention*  engineers  draft  standard   specifications  for   German 

machinery    128 

Explosives  in  Germany,  Causes  and  frequency  of  accidents  by. fig.  42,  p.     94 


446  INDEX 

F 

PAGE 

Faber,  Arthur:    Chairman   German   Southwestern  Woodworkers'  Asso- 
ciation  of   Germany 303 

Factory  accidents  in  Great  Britain,  discrepancies  in 220» 

employment  a   hazardous  industry   in   England 171 

inspection   system   of   Germany,   statement   by   Frederick   K.    Hoff- 
mann, on  excellence  of 74; 

inspectors  in  Germany  are  graduates  of  engineering  colleges 72: 

inspectors,   in   Germany,   for  employers'   associationap  requirements 

for 74r 

inspectors  of,  given  yearly  demonstrations  in  Germany 123 

Falkenhauer,  J.,  Chairman  of  Team  Owners'  Association  of  Germany.  .   294 

Farm  accidents  in  Germany  decreasing 8T 

Farm  and  industry  in  Germany,  comparative  hazard  of 

figs.  24-25,  facing  p.     83: 

Farm  hazards  in  the  United  States,  Walter  Drew  on 93 

labor  in  the  United  States,  compensation  measures  will  attract.  ...     94 

wagons  in  Germany  must  have  safety  appliances fig.  33,  p.     90 

Farmer  a  factor  in  all  accident  systems  in  Germany 85 

Farmers'  cider  mills,  with  and  without  safety  guards,  in  Germany 

fig.  40,  p.  93: 
horsepower  mills  in  Germany  must  be  safeguarded.  .  ..fig.  37,  p.  92 
power   transmission    machinery   without   and   with   safety   covering 

in  Germany  fig.  38,  p.     92' 

"Fatal  Accidents  Act  of  1846"  in  England 161 

Fatal  and  non-fatal  accidents  in  Canada  by  trades  from  1904-1909 

(table)   378^ 

Fatal  industrial  accidents  in  Canada  in  1909 (table)   377 

"Fellow  Servant  Doctrine"  in  England 162" 

Established  in  United  States  by  Chief  Justice  Shaw  in  1842.  .  .162,  163 
Feed  cutting  machine  in  Germany,  without  and  with  safety  guards 

fig.  35,  p.     91 

Finland,  compensation  laws  established  in 15' 

compulsory  insurance  for  all  workers  in fig.  3,  p.     13- 

emploj-ers  pay  whole  compensation  in fig.  4,  p.     14 

insurance    associations    in 13: 

regular  court  procedure,  for  settling  disputes  in fig.  5,  p.     15 

Fire   insurance   companies   of   Great   Britain   enter   employers'   liability 

field    241 

Fishery  and  sea  navigation  in  Germany,  frequency  and  results  of  acci- 
dents in    (frontispiece) 

Fishermen  included  in  German  compensation  laws 26" 

Flour    mill    industry,    22    years'    German    history    of    injured    workers 

in   ] fig.  80,  p.  134 

Flour  mills  in  Germany,  frequency  and  results  of  accidents  in.  (frontispiece) 
Food    and    canning    industry,    22    years'    German    history    of    injured 

workers  in fig.  103,  p.  142* 

Food  industry  in  Germany,  frequency  and  results  of  accidents  in 

(frontispiece) 

Forestry  included  in  German  compensation  laws .' 26- 

statistics  German    25' 

statistics  in   United   States 25» 


INDEX  44T 

PAGE 

France,  compulsory  insurance  for  part  of  wage  workers  in.  ..  .fig.  3,  p.     13 

compensation   laws  established   in 15 

German  social  insurance  system  admired  in 149' 

simplified   court   procedure   in fig.  5,  p.     15^ 

the  "Doctor  Question"  in 54 

workmen  or  state  contribute  in fig,  4,  p.     14 

French  compensation  laws,  Quebec  adopts 15,     IG 

French  views  of  German  system 149' 

Friendly  Societies  of  Great  Britain 243,  254 

Fund,  accident  compensation,  Swiss  government  contribution  to 58 

accident  insurance,   in  Germany,  advisability  of  workers'  contribu- 
tions to    58 

accident  prevention,  raised  by  popular  subscription  in  Germany...   101 
compensation,   administered   by   contributors   or  the  state,   the  best 

method    262,  263 

Government  contributions  to,  in  Germany 49 

in  Germany,  increased  requirements  for  reserve 132 

in  Germany,  workers  have  no  voice  in  the  administration  of.  .     58 

Fund,  German  accident  insurance 50 

German  reserve    41 

German  sickness  insurance 50 

insurance,  preferable  to  individual  liability 262 

insurance,  not  in  -England's  first  compensation  measure 169 

sick,   in  Germany 76,  281,  283,  287 

Funds,    expenditures,    receipts   and    organization   of   accident    insurance 

and  compensation  system  of  Germany.  ..  .fig.  8,  facing  p.     36 
Fuster,   Edouard.  social   insurance  expert 149 

G 

Gas   and   waterworks   in   Germany,   frequency   and  results  of  accidents 

in    ( frontispiece ) 

22  years'  history  injured  workers  in fig.  113,  p.  145 

General    Electric    Company,    of    the    United    States,    mutual    insurance 

plan  of  the    415 

works  at   West   Lynn,   Mass fig.  131,  p.  414 

German  Emperor  and  accident  prevention  fund 102 

German  employers  united  by  obligatory  workers'  insurance 38 

German,   E'nglisb,   and   United   States  accident  compensation  insurance, 

comparison    of    150 

German  experts,  concentrated  efforts  to  reduce  light  accidents,  by 53 

German  legislatures,  accident  prevention  constantly  agitated  in 127 

German  prevention  appliances  may  be  adopted  in  United  States......   126 

German   Southwestern  Woodworkers'  Association 303 

German  system,   English   views   of 148 

French   views   of 149 

of  compensation  insurance,  theory  of 56 

German  trade  schools  have  special  courses  in  accident  prevention 127 

Germany,   accidental   injuries,   in 27 

accident  cases,  proportion  of  changes  in 103 

accident  insurance  and  compensation,  organization,  receipts,  expen- 
ditures and   funds  in fig,  8,  facing  p.     36 

a    necessity    in 307 

for  agricultural   and  horticultural  workers  in (frontispiece) 


448  INDEX 

PAGE 

Germany,  accident  insuiance  in  hands  of  employers'  associations  in 282 

*  in  liands  of  employers'  associations  in ; 274 

Social    consequences   of 293 

system    ^26 

accident  prevention,  all  industries,   in .  .  fig.  44,  p.  103 ;  fig.    •  108 

analysis  of  in 07 

business   proposition   in ^9 

cost  of  inspection  and  management  in fig,  43,  faci  101 

demanded   by  law  in •  -^ 289 

enforced  by  compulsory  standards  for  machinery  in . .  .  128 

greater  than  compensation  in 9 

in    30 

in  chemical   industry,  in fig.  45,  p.  104 ;  fig. 

in  glass,  pottery  and  brick  industries,  in 

fig.  48,  p.  107;  fig. 

in  iron  and  steel  industries,  in fig.  47,  p.  106;  fig        ,  ^.  109 

in  mining  industry,  in 

fig.  46,  p.  105;  fig.  53,  p.  110;  fig.  54,  p.  Ill 

methods   strictly   enforced    in 317 

paying  investment  in 100 

placed   on  practical   basis  in 314 

strong  in   126 

more  important   than   compensation   in 29 

accidents  among  farm  hands  from  falls,  in fig.  30,  p.  88 

causes    in    55 

comparative    statistics    of,    in 95 

due  to  fault  of  employers  and  workers  in 55 

of  less  than  13  weeks'  duration,  in fig.  14,  p.  52 

of  more  than  13  weeks'  duration,  in fig.  14,  p.  52 

to  farm  workers  while  cutting  and  hauling  timber,  in. fig.  34,  p.  90 

to  women  workers,  few  compared  with  men  in 69 

adequacy  of  compensation  in 284 

a^ed  work-ers  not  barred  from  employment  in 69 

agricultural  accidents,  according  to  age  and  sex 70 

less  than  in  United  States 93 

resulting  from  teaming,  in fig.  33,  p.  90 

agricultural  occupations  included  in  accident  insurance,  in 287 

agricultural  employers'  associations  in 64 

on   accident   prevention   in 99 

agricultural,    statistics    of 25 

agriculture  and  industry,  community  of  interests  in 317 

and  Austria,  insurance  in  mutual  companies  compulsory  in 65 

and   England,   Contrast   of   legislation  in 7 

and  Great  Britain,  difference  in  viewpoints  of .  .251,  252 

and  Great  Britain,  comparison  of  trade  risk  in 10 

and  New  York,  comparison  of  insurance  rates  between. fig.  116,  p.  152 

annual  pension  method,  adds  new  cases  to  the  old,  in 34 

arbitration  court  decisions,  appeals  from,  in 77 

decisions  made  by  a  majority  vote,  in 76 

expenses  borne  in  part  by  the  State  in 77 

fair   and   impartial   in 78 

make  medical   examination  in 77 

the  second  step  in  legal  process  of  cotnpensation  in 76 


INDEX 


149 


PAGE 

Gerraanyr 'Average  ratio  of  employers  to  workers  in 64 

benefits   paid   during   1908,    in 33 

benefited   by  social   insurance 37 

bill  -before  the  Reichstag  in 32 

'ki  of  compensation  placed  upon  the  industry  in 64 

3.  and  frequency  of  accidents  by  occupations  in,  fig.  42,  facing  p.  94 

.3   of  accidents   immaterial 285 

•"fi^y   associations  benefited   by   accident  insurance   in 286 

ririson  of  accidents  in  agricultural  and  building  industries  in  86 

;nson  of  United  States  statistics  with  thos-e  of 25 

conii..  nsation  and  accident  prevention  rests  witli  employers'  associa- 
tions in •  •  26 

■'•nsation  benefits  employer  and  employe  alike  in 278 

St   to   employers   in 132 

les  not  interfere  with  self-government  in 279 

minates   class   hatred    in 300 

iaial  to  socialistic  doctrines  in 317 

.-for  accidents  during  the  last  25  years 33 

for  minor  accidents  not  necessary  in 313 

for    occupational    accidents    in 47 

funds,   based   on    industrial   hazards   and   prevention   efforts   in  65 

increases   workers'   confidence    in   employers   in 301 

includes  all  accidents  in 302 

compensation    insurance    Act    comprehensive,    in 36-37 

cost  of  administration   in fig.   11,   p.  47 

total   expenditures   in fig.   10,   p.  47 

versus   employers  liability  in 293 

compensation  laws  include  land  and  water  transportation,  marine 
and  army  telegraph,  agricultural  and  horticultural  pursuits 
and    forestry,    building    industries,    tunneling,    excavating, 

sailors    and    fishemen 26 

administration  of  in  hands  of  united  employers  in 46 

established  in   15 

compensation  legislation,  relation  of  injured  workmen  to,  in 251 

proceeds  from   carefully  compiled  information  in 211 

compensation  lessens  workmen's  sense  of  responsibility  in 295 

a    model    in 297 

most  beneficial  legislation  ever  undertaken  in 296 

protects  and  benefits  workmen  in 320 

protects   employes   and   employers  in 300 

reform.   Prince  Bismarck,  prime  mover  in 26 

system,  economic  and  legal  basis  of 27 

to    injured    workers    in 40 

to  workers,  estimated   cost  of 147 

to  workers   a  public  debt,  in 49 

scheme   of    6 

compulsory  insurance  against  accident  in 11 

best     274 

for  all  workers  in fig.  3,  p.  13 

necessary  in    282 

recommended    in    .  .  * 313 

contributory  principle   inj 57,  fig.   17,   p.  58 

of  accident  insurance  in 57 


450  INDEX 

PAGE 

Germany,  co-operation  of  agriculture  and  industry  in 294 

cost  of  accident  prevention  in 101 

cost  of  industrial  accidents  placed  on  manufacturers  in 283 

cost   of  insurance   in 14G 

created   rights  of  recovery   in 63 

damage   suits   eliminated   in 314 

dangerous  animals  must  be  guarded  in fig.  31,  p.     89 

dangerous  parts  of  machinery   and  safety  devices  painted   red,   to 

attract   attention,    in fig.    29,   p.     88 

death  rate  due  to  work  accidents  increased  in ....  .• 35 

deaths,  all  causes,  1905-07,  in fig.  7,  p.     36 

caused   by   occupational   accidents   in 35 

diseases,  1905-07,  in fig.  7,  p.  36 

due   to  accidents   in 107 

from  occupational  accidents  in fig.  6,  p.  35 ;  fig.  7,  p.     36 

deferred  payments  in  accident  insurance  system  in 40 

distress  and  misery  eliminated  by  compensation  in 295 

"Doctor  Question,"  the,  in 54 

domestic  statistics  of 25 

duration   of  industrial   injuries    in 52 

during  period  pending  final  decision,  compensation  paid  in  part  in .  .      78 

duty  of  state  to  protect  workers  in 46 

each    employer    pays    his    share    toward    proper    insurance    of    his 

workers    46 

effects  of  compensation  law  on  manuf acurers  in 295 

on   trade   unions    in 317 

eflSciency   of   accident   prevention   dependent    on   workers   contribu- 
tions in    58 

efficiency  of  insurance  system   in 47 

efficiency  of  medical  attendant  in 53 

Employer  must  join  association  in  his  industry  in 8,  28 

pays  one-third  of  the  sickness  insurance  fund  in 57 

employers  adverse  to  change  of  system  in 309 

bear  burden  of  insurance  in 283 

of  farm  help  co-operate  in  accident  insurance 281 

pay  33  per  cent,  of  sick  funds  in 76 

plan   to   obtain   increased  power   over   the   sickness   insurance 

funds,  in   59 

wish  to  continue  compensation  system  in 312 

Employers'  Accident  Insurance  Associations,  principles  of 8 

employers'  associations  are  accident  insurance  institutions  in 45 

and  accident  prevention  in 30 

are    responsible   for   administration    of    accident   compensation 

system   in    28 

carry  accident  insurance  on  mutual  basis 48 

commission  decision   first  step  in   compensation  system 75 

have  power  to  enforce  accident  prevention  rules  and  insurance 

rules    in    45 

have  taken  steps  to  reduce  simulation  in 54 

in    28 

work  in  harmony  with  government  authorities  in 275,  276 

employers'  contributions  in fig.  17,  p.     17 

fault  need  not  be  proven  in 28 


INDEX  451 

PAGE 

Germany,  employers'  liability  and  compensation  in 131 

law  of  1871  in 7 

law  of  1881  in 7 

employers'  membership  in  insurance  organization  obligatory  in....     65 

responsibility    for    accidents    in 3 

English  commission  study  industrial  conditions  in 148 

estimated   cost   of   insurance   in 147 

experts  of,   aid   National  Association  of  Manuf actur€rs 273 

extent   of   contributory  principle   in 58 

factory   inspection   in 74 

system   of 72 

factory  inspectors   graduates  of  engineering  colleges   in 72 

falls  from  ladders  serious  cause  of  accidents  in 94 

farm    accidents,   decrease   in 87 

farmer  a  factor  in  all  accident  systems  in 85 

farm  wagons  must  have  safety  appliances,  in fig.  33,  p.     90 

Financial    responsibility    of    Employers    in 63 

first  accident   insurance  bill   in 7 

first   compensation   law  enacted  in 26 

first  year  of  accident  compensation  system  in 33 

former  employers'   liability  laws  a  mistake 304 

frequency  and  results  of  accidents  in (frontispiece) 

frequency   of   agricultural   accidents   in,   according   to  age   and   sex 

fig.  20,  p.     69 

general   compulsory   insurance   best   for   employers  in,  . '. 286 

government  and  employers'  associations  promptly  report  accidents  in  110 
government  inspectors  and  employers'  associations  inspectors  in,  .     71 

government    insurance    department 48 

Government's  attitude  respecting  employers 46 

government's  contribution  to  workers'  compensation  fund  in 49 

great  value  of  statistics  and  experience  in 261 

growth  of  accident  compensation  in 27,  fig,  9,  p,     36 

compensation  for  deaths  due  to  accidents  in fig.  9,  p.     36 

compulsory  insurance   in 65 

unions   retarded   in 281 

hazard,  comparative   of  industry  and  farm   in figs.  24-25,  p.     83 

hazards :   ratio,  made  by  experts  in 67 

highest  court  for  compensation  cases  in 77 

hospitals   established  by  employers'  associations  in 50 

hospital  expenditures  for  accidents  in fig,  9,  p,     36 

Imperial  Insurance  Department,  frequency  and  results  of  accidents 

as    shown   by 86 

on  accident  prevention  in 99 

supervises  administration  of  compensation  law 46 

Imperial  liability  law  of  1871 27 

importance  of  accident  prevention  in 99 

importance   of  preventing  serious  accidents   in 53 

improvement  of  economic  welfare  concurrent  with  the  improvement 

in   condition   of   workers 38 

imposition   hinders   advancement   in 53 

incapacitated   workers  cared  for  in 46 

increase  in  workers*  contribution  not  desirable  in 28^ 

increase  of  light  accidents  in 52 


452  INDEX 

PAGE 

Germany,   independence    of   employers'    Associations   in 32 

individual  employers  relieved  of  responsibility  in 316 

individual  responsibility  in 28 

industrial  accidents  according  to  age  and  sex,  in 69 

according  to  days  and  hours,  in fig.  19,  p.  68 

industrial  and  agricultural  accidents  in,  comparison  of 71 

comparison  of,  according  to  days  of  week,  in fig.  22,  p.  71 

industrial   employers'   associations   in 64 

consider   accident   prevention   in 99 

Industrial  injuries  in fig.  14,  p.  52 

industrial  insurance  assessments  made  by  experts  in 65 

in  mutual  concerns,  compulsory  in 65 

Industrialists,  Central  Federation  of 326 

industrial  relief  has  secured  higher  eflBciency  in 101 

statistics  of    25 

waste  from  injuries  compared  with  loss  of  life  in  wars 35 

influence  of  compensation  system  on  workers  in 275 

injured  and  sick  workmen  cared  for  by  employers  in 30 

quickly  receive  relief  from  sickness  insurance  funds  in 55 

injured  workers  form  industrial  groups  in 132 

restored  to  industry  quickly  as  possible 47 

injuries,  extending  over  thirteen  weeks  during  1908  in 34 

to   agricultural   workers,   by  vicious   animals   in.... fig.   32,   p.  89 

insurance,   amount   paid,    in 276 

approval    of    287 

associations    in    13 

compulsory  versus  voluntary  in 319 

cost  for  all  industries  combined fig.  114,  p.  146 

for  workers  relieves  charitable  institutions,  in 49 

important  for  smaller  employers  in 64 

litigation    cost    in 47 

premiums,   differences   in 132 

rates  compared  with  those  in  New  York 152 

rates  fixed  according  to  efforts  at  accident  prevention 127 

rates  for  1909,   industrial   occupations  per  $100  pay   roll,  in 

fig.  79.  p.  133 

higher   than    in   Great    Britain 146 

rates  higher  than  in  United   States 131 

rates  lower  than  in  New  York 151 

rates,  basis  of 48 

best  guarantee  of  compensation  in 63 

lawsuits   made   impossible   in 302 

Leading  men   interested   in   compensation   system 27 

League  of  German  employers'  associations 290 

legal   accident  prevention  regulations  drafted  by  commissions  in .  .  31 

legal  counsel  may  be  engaged  by  both  sides  in  arbitration  courts..  77 

legislation  for  protection  of  workmen  great  achievement 290 

low  cost  of  insurance  system  in 48 

manufacturers   satisfied  with   compensation   system   of 30.3,  311 

machine   hazard   records,   in 102 

machinery  of   insurance   associations   secure   greater   safety   of   the 

workmen    in    176 

magnitude  of  accident  prevention  and  relief  System  in 33 


INDEX  453 

PAGE 

Cermany,  medical  attention  part  of  compensation  in 48 

medical   attention   part  of  compensation 48 

fraternity  consider  accident  prevention  in 99 

specialists  treat  all  injuries  in 50 

membership   of  employers  in  accident  insurance   associations  com- 
pulsory   in    45 

method  of  determining  amount  of  compensation   in 76 

of  providing  for  determination  of  compensation  in 75 

mutual    accident   insurance   in. 45 

necessity   of    immediate    medical    attention 50 

new  government  bill  considered  a  menace  to  accident  insurance  in  296 

new  insurance  bill  not  favored  in 318 

obligatory   insurance   in 29 

obligatory  results  changed  to  voluntary  performance 100-101 

obligatory  social  insurance  universally  adopted,  is  desire  of.  .38,  39 
obligatory  workers'  insurance  has  reduced  unfair  competition  in.  ,  38 
occupational   accidents    causing  death   in fig.   25,   p.     83 

lasting  over  thirteen  weeks  in fig.  24,  p.     83 

offers    greatest    example    of    good    accomplished    with    proper    co- 
operation           26 

officials  of  Employers  Associations  serve  without  pay 48 

one  pension  for  every  63  inhabitants  in 35 

organization    receipts    and    expenditures   of    the   accident   insurance 

system    in    36 

partial  permanent  disability  from  occupational  accidents,  in  1908, 

in    fig.   27,   p.     84 

paupers  not  granted  old  age  pensions  in 147 

payment  of  compensation  in 31 

penalties  provided  for  not  reporting  accidents  in Ill 

pensions   paid   for   injury   in 33,  34 

paid   for   occupational   injuries  during  1908  in 35 

permanent  and  complete  disability  from  occupational  accidents  in, 

fig.  26,  p.     84 

permanent   disability    from    accidents    in 107 

personal   service   statistics   of 25 

persons  insured  against  accidents  in 33 

policy  to  increase  workers'  efficiency   in 147 

premiums  paid  for  life  saving  devices  in fig.  43,  p.  101 

present   accident   insurance    system   satisfies  employers   in 31 

preservation  of  workers  means  increase  of  national  resources  in,.     38 

prevention   better  than  cure  in 276 

prevention   encouraged  under  present   system  in 48 

prevention    of    imaginary    ailments    in 51 

Prince    Bismarck    and    German    manufacturers 37 

principle  of  compensating  the  workers  for  accidents  in 55 

private   accident   insurance   expensive   and   inefficient   in 308 

progress  not   rapid   in   accident  preven^:ion   in 102 

of  industries  in 38 

prohibits  use  of  square  cutter  heads  on  wood  planers.. fig.  55,  p.  113 

proportion  of  compensation  borne  by  workers  in 57 

prosperity  helped  by  compensation  system  in 277 

public  charity  relieved  by  accident  insurance  system  of 288 

public  service  statistics   of 25 


454  INDEX 

PAGE 

Germany,  radical  changes  in  accident  insurance  system  not  desired  in..  292 

ratio  of  light  to  serious  accidents  in 52 

recognized  as  authority  on  compensation  legislation 22 

record  of  new  accident  cases  in 34 

relief   system,    Statistics    of 33 

representative  powers  of  contributors  in 58 

requirements  for  factory  inspectors  for  employers'  associations  in  74 

reserve  funds   in 41 

responsibility  for  occupational   accidents   in fi^s.   15-16,   p.  55 

revision  of  compensation  laws  in 27 

right  to  compensation   in 28 

safety  appliance  bill  pending  before  Reichstag  in 45 

safety  appliances  for  woodworking  machines  for  protecting  workers' 
limbs,  in.. fig.  59,  p.  114;  fig.  60,  p.  114;  fig.  61,  p.  115; 
fig.  62,  p.  115;  fig.  63,  p.  115;  fig.  124,  p.  395;  fig.  125, 

p.  396;   fig.   126,  p.  397;  fig.   127,  p.  397 

scarcity  of  labor  increases  accidents  in 112 

School  children  taught  accident  prevention  in 127 

scientific   accident    prevention    an    important    branch    of    technical 

engineering  in    100 

scientific  accident  prevention  branch  of  technical  engineering  in . .  276 

sick   fund   of 281,  283,  801,  309,  312,  315 

sick  insurance  obligatory  in 57 

sickness,    accident   and   invalid    insurance   in 49 

sickness  insurance  fund  in 50 

simplified  court  procedure  in fig.   5,  p.  15 

simulation  in    53,  54,  58 

made   difficult   in 281 

prevented  in   283 

reduced  by  waiting  time  in 298 

remedy    for    305,  310 

slight  injuries  to  workers,  increase  total  of  industrial  accidents  in  111 

small  employers  and  accident  verdicts,  in 64 

an  important  factor  of  industrial  insurance,  in 62 

dissatisfied  with  present  insurance  burdens   in 32 

work  to  secure  highest  rate  of  compensation  for  injured  workers 

in    78 

social  insurance,  beneficial  to ' 148 

system  admired   in   France 149 

system  is  mutual  and  contributory  in 49 

system.    State,   employers   and   workers   contribute   toward    the 

maintenance   of    49 

socialistic   demands  in 322 

socialists  antagonistic  to  accident  insurance  system  of 288 

socialists  control  sickness  insurance  in 59 

social  political  theorists  in 32 

society  of  prevention  engineers   in 103 

spirit  shown  in  preventing  accidents  in- 101 

statistical  tables  accurate  in 67 

statistics  of  accident,  sickness  and  invalidity  insurance  in 39 

of  employers  associations  for  electrical  and  mechanical  trades 

in 38 

show  degree  of  hazard  in 284 


INDEX  455 

PAGE 

Germany,  State  Factory  inspectors  given  yearly  demonstrations  in 123 

stock   raising,    statistics   of 25 

success  in  compensation  legislation  due  to  Bismarck's  personality..  274 

taxation  levied  by  trusted  oflScers  of  employers'  associations  in....  30 

temporary  compensation  for  minor  injuries  in 299 

temporary   disability  from   occupational   accidents  in   1908,  in, 

fig.  28,  p.     85 

territorial  associations  versus  system  in 292 

total  disability  from  accidents  in 107 

total  number  of  injured  workers  during  1908  in 34 

trade  and  transportation,   Statistics  of 25 

trade  unions  not   strengthened  by  compensation  of 301,  309,  314 

trade  unions  strengthened  by  accident  insurance  laws 293 

uniform  distribution  of  burden  prevents  competition  in 308 

value   of  employers'  associations  in 308 

value  of  organizing  employers  by  industries  in 285 

wage  workers  insured  against  accidents  in 33 

weekly  payments  to  injured  workers  in 49 

accident  compensation  insurance  in 99 

workers  appreciate  compensation  system  of 298 

are  represented  in  the  commissions  in 31 

have  no  voice  in  management  of  accident  insurance  in 306 

contribute  66  per  cent,  of  the  sick  funds  in 76 

employed  in  small  plants,  percentage  of ,.  64 

feel    secure    in    their    rights    in 304 

have  no  voice  in  the  administration  of  compensation  funds  in  58 

injured  by  unpreventable  accidents  compensated  in 46 

in    agricultural   employers'   associations   in 64 

killed   in   1908   in 34 

know  they  are  protected  in 311,  314,  319 

may  help  in  managing  insurance  associations  in 293 

pay  two-thirds  of  the  sickness  insurance  fund  in 57 

permanently  injured  in  1908  in 34 

satisfied    in    297,  309 

satisfied  with  accident  insurance  in 282 

temporarily  disabled  during  1908  in 34 

voluntarily  come  under  Compensation  Insurance  Act  in 36 

workers'   attitude  toward  contribution  to  sick  funds  in 287 

workers'   contributions  important  in fig,   17,  p.  58,  311 

necessary    294 

satisfactory   in    310,  317 

simplifies  practical  working  of  system  in 315 

to   accident    insurance    funds,    advisability    of,    in 58 

to  accident   insurance   large   enough  in 281 

to  mutual  social  insurance  in fig.  13,  facing  p.  49 

workers'    compensation   in   mutual   insurance   in fig.   12,   p.  49 

change  in  public  sentiment  in 32 

efficiency   recognized  in  England 148 

ideas  of  slight  injuries  enlarged  in 53 

increased   hazard,   due   to   age,   in 69 

obligatory   under  law 274 

workers'  objections  to  accident  insurance  system  in 31 

workmen  or  state  contribute  in fig.  4,  p.  14 


456  INDEX 

PAGE 

Gladwell,   S.    K.,    secretary   of   Iron    Trade   Employers'   Association    of 

Great   Britain    244 

Glass  industry  in  Germany,  frequency  and  results  of  accidents  in 

(frontispiece) 

22  years'  history  of  injured   workers   in fig.   99,   p.  141 

Glass  pottery  and  brick  industries,  21  years'  German  accident  prevention 

in   fig.  48,  p.  107 ;  fig.  51,  p.  109 

Great  Britain,  accident  companies  find  difficulty  in  formulating  insur- 
ance   rates    in 228 

accidents  "arising  out  of  and  in  the  course  of  emplfyment".  ....    195 

Act  of  1897  in 10 

Act  of  1900,   "excepted"  persons  under 190 

administration   of    187 

Amount    of    Compensation    under 186 

appeals   under   the,   in 188 

bears  no   relation   to  accident  prevention 250 

comprehends  many  contingencies  under  "accidents"  in 203 

discourages  contracts  outside   its  terms  in 242 

does  not  require  medical  attention  in 250 

features   of  administration   in '. 206 

increased    area    of   insurance    activity 230 

official  inquiry  into  operation  of,  inconclusive  in 224 

the  latest   Liability  Law    in 185,  186 

actuarial  problems  within  the  Compensation  Acts  of 246 

amount  of  compensation  paid  during  1909  in 227 

Burden  of  the  Act  of  1906  displayed  in  the  statistics  of 220 

claims  under  Act  of  1906  are  promptly  adjusted   in 206 

common   law  development   in 158 

compensation    awarded    may    be    enforced    by    ordinary    process    of 

execution  in   187 

for  industrial  diseases  in 205 

insurance  carried   at  a  loss  in 237 

insurance,  lessons  of,   to   United   States  in 249-256 

insurance,   position   of  underwriters   in 246 

laws    established    in 15 

legislation,   influenced   by   labor   party   in 249 

legislation,   primal   defects   in 249-253 

legislation,  relation  of  workman  in 251 

proceedings   not   limited   in 206 

under  Act  of  1906  determined  by  earnings  in 193 

continuing  instability  of  rates  in 234 

contracting  out  of  the  act  of  1900  in 186,  243 

contract  of  employment  and  circumstances  under  common   law   in  158 

cost  of  insurance  administration  in 242 

Debtors'  Act  of  1869  in 187 

definition  of  a  "workman"  under  Act  of  1906  in 190 

difference  between  viewpoint  of  Germany  and 251,  252 

Discrepancies  in   factory  accidents  in 220 

doctrine  of  personal   liability  in • 249 

early  extension  of  "Fellow  Servant  Doctrine"  in 162 

early  difficulties  in  interpretation  of  "accident" 198 

effect  of  Compensation  Act  unsalutary 256 

upon  employment  of  elderly  and  defectime  men  in 253,  254 


INDEX  457 

PAGE 

Great  Britain,  effect  of  judicial  decisions  on  rates  in 230 

emploj^er   and   employe   under   common   law   in 158 

employer  an  instrumentality  to  relieve  indigence  in 250 

forced  to  regard  employe  as  an  unknown  hazard  in 253 

liable  for  disease  in 255 

liable  for  medical  and  funeral  expenses  under  Act  of  1906  in.  .   186 

liable  for  injuries  resulting  from   disease   in 231 

employers'   associations,    engineering   and   shipbuilding   in 244-245 

employers'   liability    business   of   fifty-five  companies   in   1908  in 

(table),  238-239 
insurance,  business  of  four  largest  companies  in  1909  in 

(table),  240 

outlines  at   present  are  vague   in 246 

prior  to  Compensation  Act  in 157 

Erroneous  Computation  of  Cost  of  Compensation  in 219 

Estimate  of  number  of  persons  covered  by  Act  of  1906  in 215 

explanations   advanced  for   insurance  losses   in 241 

features  of  Compensation  Act  unworthy  of  imitation 255 

fire  insurance  companies  enter  employers'  liability  field  in 241 

first  stages  of  liability  insurance  under  Compensation  Act  in....   229 

Great  Eastern  Railroad  plan  in 244 

Home  Ofiice  Commentary  on  Statistics,  Act  of  1897 211 

illegitimate  children  of  injured  workmen  entitled   to  compensation 

under  Act  of  1906  in 186 

illegitimate   claimants   recognition   in 258 

inclusion  of   infectious  diseases  as  "accident"  in 199 

incompleteness   of   compensation   statistics  in 218,  224 

incompleteness  of  ofiicial  records  compels  resort  to  insurance  com- 
panies   in    228 

increase  of  liability.  Act  of  1906  over  Acts  of  1897  and  1900 235 

increased  demand  for  liability  insurance  under  compensation  legisla- 
tion   in    227 

individual   liabilities  indefinite   in 252 

information  and  recorded  experience  lacking  in 252 

under  Act  of  1906  required  only  from  limited  number  of  in- 
dustries in   214,  217 

injured  workmen  entitled  to  compensation  under  Act  of  1906,  in.  .   186 
injured  workmens'  dependents  entitled  to  compensation   under  Act 

of   1906   in 186 

injury  accelerating  diseased  condition  held  to  be  personal  injury  in  199 

insolvency  of  employer,  workman  a  preferred  creditor,  in 187 

instances   where  liability  may  or  may  not  exist  in 196 

insurance  companies  known  as  either  tariff  or  non-tariff  in 229 

not   required   to  make   pecuniary   guarantee   of   solvency  prior 

to   1909    in ; 229 

rates  under  Act  of  1906  in 231 

under  Workmen's  Compensation  Act  of  1897  and  1906,  in 

(table),  232-233 

interpretation  of  "accident"  by  House  of  Lords  in 198 

investigation   of  accidents   in 5 

Iron    Trade   Employers'   Association   of 244 

judicial   arbitration   of  compensation   claims  in 221 

abor  party  a  power  in 249 


458  INDEX 

PAGE 

Great  Britain,  lack  of  statistical  data  respecting  operation  of  Act  of 

1897 , 212,  224 

locality  of  accidents  considered  under  Act  of  1906  in 194 

liability  of  employers  before  adoption  of  compensatory  principle  in  157 

Marked  increase  in  occupational  diseases  in 221 

meaning  of  "accident"  a  question  of  law  in 197 

meaning  of  "casual  labor"  under  Act  of  1906  in 190,  191 

mental  shock  by  fright  held  to  be  accident  in 201 

mode  of  collecting  compensation  claims  in 187 

municipal   insurance  against  liability  to  public  servftnts   in 231 

nature  of  liability  imposed  by  Act  of  1906  on  employer  in 189 

non-tarifif  companies  not  bound  by  rate  restrictions  in 230 

notice  of  accidents  and  filing  of  claims  in 187 

number  of  workmen  under  Act  of  1908  in 191,  192 

occupational  diseases  under  act  of  1906  in 186 

occupations  embraced  under  the  Act  of  1906  in 192-193 

onus  of  proof  in  accidents  rests  upon  the  applicant  in 195 

operation  of  Act  of  1906  during  years  1908  and  1909 215,  217 

physical  examinations  of  applicants  for  employment  required  in.  .   231 
provision  for  compiling  information  respecting  Act  of  1906  in.  ..  .   213 

recklessness  no  bar  to  compensation  in 204 

report  of  Chief  Factory  Inspector  of 5 

Responsibility  of,  for  accidents  in 5 

Review  of  workmen's  compensation  Act  of  1906 208 

Risks  taken  under  Compensation  Act  underwritten  at  a  loss ....   235 

Serious  and  willful  misconduct  affecting  compensation  in 203 

Shortcomings    of    Compensation    Act    of 255 

Spirit  of  compensation  Act  of  1897  in 250 

statistics  of  compensation  and  proceedings  under  the  Compensation 

Act  of  1906  in 215 

Suicide  bars  recovery  of  compensation  in 203 

workmen  may  secure  compensation  after  action  at  law  in 188,  189 

prefer  Compensation  Act  to  employers'   liability  Act 223 

Great  Eastern  Railroad  of  Great  Britain,  plan  of 244 

Grumbt,    Ernst,    Chairman    Saxonian    Woodworkers'    Employers'    As- 
sociation       290 

H 

Hague,  International  Conference  on  Social  Insurance  at  The 234 

International  Conference  on  "The  Doctor  Question"  at  the 54 

Hartmann,    Dr.    Konrad,    statement    on    factory    inspection    system    of 

Germany  by   72 

Hartmann,    Professor,    Doctor 39 

Hazard  agricultural,  greater  in  United  States  than  in  Germany!.!!..  93 

Agricultural  must  be  considered 87 

comparative,  in  Germany,  of  industry  and  farm. figs.  24-25,  facing  p.  83 

element  of   inherent g 

increased  by  old  age,  in  Germany !!!!!!!!!!!!  69 

In  Great  Britain,  employer  regards  employe  as  an  unknown! ! ! ! !  !  253 
machme,  in  Germany,  industrial  employers'  associations  have  com- 
plete record  of iqo 

of  occupation,  accidents  due  to,  in ' Germany! ! ! 55 

principle  of  trade g 


INDEX  459 

PAGE 

Hazardous   occupations    83 

in  building  trades 83 

in  England,  compensation  act  of  1897  confined  to 171 

obligatory  compensation  for  accidents  in 83 

Hazards,  farm,  in  tlie  United  States,  Walter  Drew  on 93-94 

in  Germany,  exact  ratio  of,  made  by  experts 67 

of  industries  in  Germany  are  passed  on  by  employers  organizations     65 

Henrich,  F. :  Chairman  of  Br-ewers'  and  Malsters'  Association 310 

Hershell,  Lord,  on  duty  of  master  to  employes 159 

Herve,  French  social  democrat,  statement  by 282 

Hill,   Sir  John  Gray,  analysis  of  Acts  by 16 

Hoffmann,  Mr.  Frederick  K.,  on  excellence  of  German  factory  inspection 

system    74 

Holland,  compensation  laws  established  in 15 

compulsory  insurance  for  all  workers  in fig.  3,  p.     13 

employers  pay  whole  compensation  in fig.  4,  p.     14 

simplified  court  procedure  in fig.  5,  p.     15 

Horticultural    and   agricultural    accidents    in    Germany   cause   and    fre- 
quency  of    fig.  41,  facing  p.     94 

Horticultural  and  agricultural  workers,  in  Germany,  accident  insurance 

for    (frontispiece) 

Horticultural  pursuits,  included  in  German  compensation  laws 26 

statistics,    German 25 

statistics,    United   States 25 

Hospital  expenditures  for  accidents  in  Germany fig.  9,  facing  p.     36 

Hungary,  compulsory  insurance  for  all  workers  in fig.  3,  p.     13 

employers  pay  whole  compensation  in fig.  4,  p.     14 

insurance    associations    in 13 

simplified   court  procedure   in fig.  5,  p.     15 


Illegitimate  children  in   Great  Britain   entitled   to  compensation  under 

Act    of    1906 186.  253 

Imperial  Insurance  Department  of  Germany,  Accident  prevention  con- 
sidered   by     99 

Imposition  hinders  advancement  in  Germany 53 

Prevention  in  Germany  of   51 

Indemnity,   Compensation  not  intended  under  European  systems  to  be 

complete 265 

rates  higher  in  Germany  than  in  England 146 

Individual  liabilities  indefinite  in  Great  Brita;in 252 

Industrial  accidents  in  Germany,  according  to  age  and  sex.,  .fig.  20,  p.  69 

according  to  days  and  hours fig.  19,  p.  68 

according  to  days  of  week fig.  22,  p.  71 

compared  with  agricultural 71 

fatal  and  non-fatal,  in  Canada,  in  1909 (table)  377 

Increase    in    number   of   slight 110 

paid  by  manufacturers 283 

Partial  permanent  disability  from,  in  1908 fig.  27,  p.  84 

Permanent  and  complete  disability  from fig.  26,  p.  84 

Responsibility   for    fig.  15,  p.  55 

Temporary    disability    from fig.  28,  p.  85 


460  INDEX 

PAGE 
Industrial  compensation  funds  in  Germany  based  on  assessments  made 

by  experts 65 

conditions  in  Germany  studied  by  English  commissions 148 

diseases  in  Great  Britain,  compensation  for 205 

Industrial  employers'  associations  in  Germany 64 

consider  accident  prevention 99 

have  complete  record  of  machine  hazard  in  Germany 102 

Industrial  injuries,  duration  of,  in  Germany fig.  14,  p.     52 

Industrial  insurance  in  mutual  concerns,  compulsory   i^  Germany  and 

Austria    65 

Industrial  Liability  Insurance  and  Accident  Prevention,  findings  of 
the  Committee  of  the  National  Association  of  Manufac- 
turers on    259,  269 

Industrial  occupations,  insurance  rates  per  $100  pay  roll,  in  Ger- 
many      fig.  79,  p.  133 

Industrial,  political  and  economic  leaders  co-operate  in  German  acci- 
dent prevention   methods 127 

Industrial  relief  has  secured  higher  efficiency  in  Germany 101 

strength,  preservation  of,  insures  national  efficiency 3 

Industrial  trade  associations  in  Germany,  frequency  and  results  of  acci- 
dents in    (frontispiece) 

Industries,  accident  prevention  for  21  years  in  combined  German 

fig.  44,  p.  103;  fig.  49,  p.  108 
accidents  per  100  insured  workers,  in  combined  German. fig.  114,  p.  146 
Comparison  of  accidents  in  Germany,  in  building  and  agricultural.  86 
Comparison    of   insurance    rates    in    Germany    and    New    York,    in 

building  trades  and  coal  mining fig.  116,  p.  152 

English,  Compensation  Act  of  1897  confined  to  hazardous 171 

Information   under   Act   of   1906   required    in    Great   Britain    only 

from   limited   number   of 214 

Insurance  cost  in  Germany  for  all fig.  114,  p.  146 

Insurance  rates   in   Ohio   before   and   after   enactment   of  Law   of 

1910,    in    various fig.  117,  p.  153 

Progress  of,   in   Germany 38 

21    years'    German    accident    prevention    in    glass,    pottery    and 

brick    fig.  48,  p.  107 ;  fig.  51,  p.  109 

in  mechanical  and  electrical fig.  101,  p.  141 

Industry,  accident  prevention  in  Germany,  in  mining 

fig.  46,  p.  105 ;  fig.  53,  p.  110,  fig.  54,  p.  Ill 

Industry  and  agriculture  in  Germany,  co-operation  of 294,  318 

Industry  and  farm  in  Germany,  comparative  hazard  of.  .figs.  24-25,  p.     83 

Industry,  comparative  hazard  of  occupation  in 83 

Industry,   German  statistics  of 25 

21  years'  German  accident  prevention  in  chemical 

fig.  45,  p.  104;  fig.  50,  p.  108 

in  iron  and   steel fig.  47,  p.  106 ;  fig.  52,  p.  109 

United  States  statistics  of 25 

Industrial  Insurance  and  old  age  pensions,  system  of  Clieney  Brothers.   401 
Industrial  waste  from  injuries  in  Germany  compared  with  loss  of  life 

in  wars   35 

Inflammable   substances   in   Germany,    Causes    and   frequency   of   acci- 

<^e°ts  by   fig.  42,  p.     94 


IITDEX  461 

PAGE 

Injured  workers  in  Germany,  compensation  a  public  debt  to 49 

Costs  of  medical  attention  for 48 

economy  in  giving  prompt  medical  attention  to 51 

Pensions  granted  in   accident  compensation,   to fig.  9,  p.     30 

Four  principles  governing  compensation  for 28 

receive  aid  from  sick  funds  during  first  13  weeks 76 

Relation  of  compensation  legislation  to 251 

in  Great  Britain  entitled  to  compensation  under  Act  of  190(1 186 

in  the  United  States,  percentage  of  premiums  reaching  the 49,  219 

restored  to  industry  as  quickly  as  possible  in  Germany 47 

per  1000,  combined  German  industries,  .fig.  44,  p.  103;  fig.  49,  p.  108 
per  1000,  in  chemical  industry  in  Germany .  fig.  45,  p.  104 ;  fig.  50,  p.  108 
per  1000,  in  glass,  pottery  and  brick  industries  in  Germany 

fig.  48,  p.  107;  fig.  51,  p.  109 
per  1000,  in   mining  industry  in  Germany 

fig.  46,  p.  105;  fig.  53,  p.  110 
per  1000,  in  iron  and  steel   industry  in  Germany 

fig.  47,  p.  106;  fig.  52,  p.  109 

Relief  in  Europe fig.  2,  p.     12 

Injured    workers,    22    yeai-s'    (Jerman    history    of,    in    agricultural    in- 
dustry     fig.  84,  p.  136 

in  brewing  and  malting  industry fig.  83,  p.  135 

in    brickmaking    industry fig.  109,  p.  144 

in  building  trades  industry fig.  92,  p.  138 

in   clothing   industry fig.  87,  p.  137 

in   dairy,   distilling  and   starch   industries fig.  86,  p.  136 

in  excavating  and  tunneling fig.  98,  p.  140 

in  flour  mill  industry *  .fig-  81,  p.  134 

in  food  and  canning  industry fig.  103,  p.  142 

in  gas  and  water  works fig.  113,  p.  145 

in  glass   industry fig.  99,  p.  141 

in  iron  and  steel  industry fig.  112,  p.  145 

in   leather   industry fig.  110,  p.  144 

in  manufacture  of  musical   inslrrments fig.  105,  p.  143 

in  manufacture  of  paper  articles fig.  93,  p.  139 

in  mechanical  and  electrical  industries fig.  101,  p.  141 

in   mining   industry fig.  106,  p.  143 

in  miscellaneous  metal  industries fig.  97,  p.  140 

in  paper  making  industry fig.  94,  p.  139 

in    pottery    industry fig.  95,  p.  139 

in   printing   industry fig.  91,  p.  138 

in  private  railway  service fig.  HI,  P-  145 

in    quarry   industry fig.  88.  p.  137 

in  state  railways,  mail  and  telegraph  service fig.  102,  p.  142 

in  street  and  interurban  service fig.  108,  p.  144 

in  river  and  lake  navigation fig.  82,  p.  135 

in  sea  navigation  and  fisheries fig.  96,  p.  140 

in    sugar   industry fig.  90,  p.  1.38 

in   teaming   industry fig.  80,  p.  1,34 

in    textile    industry fig.  89.  p.  137 

in   tobacco  industry fig.  85,  p.   1.3(» 

in   warehouse   industry fig.  107,  p.  143 

in  woodworking  industry fig.  100,  p.  141 


462  ^^^^^ 

PAGE 

Injuries    among    farm    workers    caused    by    vicious    animals,    in    Ger- 
many    fig-  32,  p.  89 

caused  by  round  cutter  head  on  wood  planer fig.  58,  p.  113 

caused   by   square  cutter  liead   on   wood   planer fig.  56,  p.  113 

due  to  carelessness  in  loading  and  unloading  trucks fig.  122,  p.  393 

from  careless  use  of  emery-wheels fig.  123,  p.  394 

from  disease,  employer  in  Great  Britain  held  liable  for 231 

Greater  production  and  commerce  in  Germany  have  increased  ac- 
cidental     ^ 27 

industrial,  duration  of,  in  Germany fig.  14,  p.  52 

industrial  waste  from,  in  Germany,  compared  with  loss  of  life  in 

wars   35 

minor,  temporary  compensation  in  Germany  for 299 

occupational,  in  Germany,  pensions  for  during  1908 35 

slight,  workers'  ideas  of,  enlarged  in  Germany 53 

treated  by  German  medical  specialists 50 

workers',  slight,  increase  total  of  industrial  accidents  in  Germany.  Ill 

Injury  in  employment  in  Europe 4 

in  United  States  basis  of  recovery  in  personal 5 

liability  for,  in  England,  compensation  legislation  strives  to  fix.  ..  .  205 

personal,  by  accident  in  Great  Britain 197 

personal,    in    England,    employers   personally   liable    for   compensa- 
tion for  170 

when    accelerating    diseased    conditions,    held    to    be    accident    in 

Great   Britain    199 

Inspection,   accident  prevention   and   education   essential   to   successful 

system     267 

and  management  in  German  accident  prevention,  cost  of. fig.  43,  p.  101 
Insurance,    accident,    in    Germany,    Agricultural    occupations    included 

in (frontispiece)  287 

Agriculturalists    should    contribute    to 281 

a  necessity  in   Germany 307 

Contributory  principle   in 57 

Cost  of  administration  of fig.  11,  p.  47 

German  system,  workers'  objections  to 31 

in  hands  of  employers'  associations 274 

laws  in  Germany,  strengthen  trade  unions 293 

Organization  receipts,  expenditures  and  funds  for 

fig.  8,  p.  36;  fig.  10,  p.  47 

probably  menaced  by  new  government  bill 296 

Proportion  of  costs  borne  by  workers  for 57 

reform  of  Emperor  William  I.  of  Germany 33 

Social  consequences  of 293 

systems  of  Germany  benefit  charity  associations 286 

system,  of  Germany  not  approved  by  socialists 288 

workers'  contribution  large  enough 281 

workers  in  Germany  do  not  aid  in  management  of 306 

Insurance  Act  in  Germany,  Workers  voluntarily  coming  under 36 

Insurance  administration,  in  Great  Britain,  Cost  of 242 

Administration  expense  of  German  compensation 48 

area  in  Great  Britain  increased  by  Act  of  1906 230 

assessments  made  by  trained  scientific  boards  of  experts  in  Ger- 
many      65 


INDEX  463 

PAGE 

Insurance,  Austrian  Territorial  system  of 319 

associations  in  Europe,  Employers  required  to  belong  to IS 

in  Germany  secure  greater  safety  for  workmen ITG 

may  be  managed  in  part  by  workers 293 

in  European  countries 13 

best  guarantee  of  compensation,  in  Europe,  is 63 

bill,  new,  in  Germany,  not  favored 318 

British  underwriters  unable   to  gauge  employers'   risks   under  Act 

of  1906    246 

burdens  in  Germany  dissatisfy  small  employers 32 

Business  and   results  of  four  largest  companies  in  Great  Britain, 

in    1909,    in    Employers'    Liability (table)   240 

carried  at  a  loss  in  Great  Britain 237 

Insurance    companies,    Co-operation    of    with    employers'    associations 

essential 65 

employers'  liability,   in  Great  Britain,  business  and  results  of 

four  largest    (table)   240 

Incompleteness  of  official  records  in  Great  Britain  compels  re- 
sort to   228 

in  Great  Britain  not  required  to  make  pecuniary  guarantee  of 

solvency  prior  to  1909 229 

known  either  as  tarifiE  or  non-tariff  in  Great  Britain 229 

non-tariff  of  Great  Britain  not  bound  by  rate  restrictions....   230 
Complete  medical  equipment  of  Vienna   Institution  results   in  les- 
sening costs  of  compensation 51 

Comprehensiveness  of  German  system  of 30,     37 

compulsory,  best  for  German  employers 32,  274,  286 

for  all   workers  in  Austria,   Denmark,   France,   Finland,   Ger- 
many, Holland,  Hungary,  Italy,  Luxemburg  and  Norway. 

fig.  3,  p.     13 

in   Germany    274 

necessary  in  Germany 29,  282 

versus  optional,   in   Germany 319 

Cost   decreased   by   mutual 67 

Cost,  in  Germany,  all  industries  combined,  for fig.  114,  p.  146 

Cost  of  litigation  in  Germany 47 

Cost  to  German  employers,  of  compensation 132 

Departmental  Committee  in  England  recommends  compulsory 182 

Differences  in  premiums  paid  in  Germany  for.  .  . 132 

Each  employer  in  Germany  pays  share  of 46 

Employers  should  be  given  freedom  in  selecting 67 

Estimated  cost  in  Germany,  of 147 

Expensiveness  and  inefficiency  of  private  compensation 308 

Explanations  advanced,  in  Great  Britain,  for  losses  in 241 

First   accident   compensation   Bill   in   Germany  enacted   in    1881..        7 

fund,  German  accident  and  sickness 50 

Individual  liability  less  desirable  than  solvent 262 

not  in  England's  first  compensation  measure 169 

Prompt  payment  in  Germany  of  sickness 55 

Germany  desires  universal  adoption  of  obligatory  social 38,     39 

German  Employers'  Associations  on  mutual  basis  in  carrying  acci- 
dent         48 

German  employers  bear  burden  of 283 


464  INDEX 

PAGE 

Insurance,  German  employers  pay  one-third  of  the  fund  for  sickness.  ...  57 
German  employers  plan  to  obtain  increased  power  over  funds  for 

sickness    59 

German    Socialists   control   sickness 59 

German  statistical  tables  furnish  accurate  information  on 67 

German  statistics  of  accident,  sickness  and  invalidity 39 

German  workers  pay  two-thirds  of  the  fund  for  sickness 57 

Growth  in  Europe  of  compulsory 65 

Insurance  important  for  smaller  employers  in  Germany 64 

Insurance,  industrial,  and  old  age  pensions,  System  of  CMfeney  Brothers, 

for 401 

Insurance,  industrial,  in   mutual   concerns  compulsory   in   Austria  and 

Grermany    65 

institutions  for  accident  compensation  on  mutual  basis  in  Germany  45 

institutions  maintained  by  state  in   Europe 13,  14 

International  Congress  in  Rome  for  social 29 

legislation,  demands  careful  consideration 154 

liability,   Compensation   legislation   in   Great   Britain   increases  de- 
mand  for    227 

Fallacy  of  method  used  in  United  States  to  compute  cost  of . .  .  219 

in  Great  Britain  under  Compensation  Act,  first  stages  of 229 

Methods  of  compensation 263 

municipal,  in  Great  Britain,  against  liability  to  public  servants.  .  231 

mutual  associations,  for  employers  in  Great  Britain  important....  178 

Insurance   (mutual)  plan  of  the  General  Electric  Company 415 

oflScials  in  Switzerland  are  extraordinarily  expert 58 

optional,  in  Belgium,  England,  Spain  and  Sweden fig.  3,  p.  13 

paid  in  Great  Britain  during  1909 227 

Percentage   of  premiums   paid   in   United    States   reaching   injured 

workmen     47,  219 

Personal  liability  distinct  from  contributory 20 

premiums  1.2  per  cent,  of  the  total  amount  of  litigation  expenses 

in   Germany    77 

Insurance  rates.  Accidents  eon:i)anies  of  Great  Britain  find  difficulty  in 

formulating    228 

Basis  of  German. 48,  127 

comparison  of  New  York  with  those  of  Germany fig.  115,  p.  152 

for  agricultural  and  horticultural  industry  in  Germany,  .fig.  84,  p.  136 

brewing  and   malting  industry fig.  83,  p.  135 

brick   making  industry fig.  109^  p.  144 

building    trades    industry fig.  92,  p.  138 

clothing  industry    fig.  87^  p.  137 

dairy,  distilling  and  starch  industries fig.  86,  p.  136 

excavating    and    tunneling fig.  98,  p.  140 

flour   mill    industry fig.  gl,  p.  134 

food  and  canning  industry fig,  103,  p.  142 

gas  and  waterworks .,fig,  113^  p.  145 

glass  industry _'    -f  ^   fig_  99]  p,  141 

iron  and  steel  industry fig.  112,  p.  145 

leather  industry    '.'.'.WW..'.',  .'fig!  lio!  p!  144 

manufacture  of  musical  instruments fig.  105,  p.  143 

manufacture  of  paper  articles fig.  93,  p.  139 

mechanical  and  electrical  industries fig.  101,  p.  141 


INDEX  465 

PAGE 

Insurance   rates  for  miniug-  industry  in  Germany fig.   lOG,  p.  143 

miscellaneous   metal   industries fig.  97,  p.  140 

paper    making    industry fig.  94,  p.  139 

pottery  industry   fig.  95,  p.  139 

printing   industry    fig.  91,  p.  138 

private    railways fig.  Ill,  p.  145 

quarry   industry fig.  88,  p.  137 

river  and  lake   navigation fig.  82,  p.  135 

sea  navigation  and  fisheries fig.  96,  p.  140 

state  railways,  mail  and  telegraph  service ,  .  .  .fig.  102,  p.  142 

street   and   interurban    rallwajs.  ; fig.  108,  p.  144 

sugar  industry    fig.  90,  p.  138 

teaming  industry fig.  80,  p.  134 

textile    industry    fig.  89,  p.  137 

tobacco    industry    fig.  85,  p.  136 

warehouse  industry    fig.  107,  p.  143 

woodworking    industry    fig.  100,  p.  141 

improved   by   co-operation   between   employers   and   insurance   com- 
panies     66 

Insurance  rates  in  Germany  higher  than  in  England  or  United  States 

131,  146 

Great  Britain  under  Act  of  1906 231 

must   be   increased    in   New   York   for 151 

New  York,  before  and  after  enactment  of  Law  of  1910. fig.  115,  p.  151 

higher  than  German  rates 151 

Ohio,  before  and  after  enactment  of  Law  of  1910 fig.  117,  p.  153 

per    $100    pay    roll,    for    industrial    occupations    in    Germany,    in 

1909    fig.  79,  p.  133 

reduced  by  mutual  principles  and  selection  of  risks 66 

reduced  by  round  cutter  heads  on  wood  planers fig.  57,  p.  113 

under  Workmen's   Compensation  Acts  of  1897  and  1906  in  Great 

Britain (table)   232,  233 

Insurance   system   considered   ideal   in   Germany 282 

Beneficial  results  on  charitable  institutions  of  German 49 

Contributory  principle   in   German 57 

Deferred  payments   in   German  accident 40 

Economic  and   social  conditions,  of  German   accident 33 

efiiciency    of    German 47 

in  foreign  countries  strive  to  bring  employer  and  employe  together.  20 

Low  cost  of  German 48 

mutual   in   Germany 49 

operated  by  employers  in  Great  Britain 244,  245 

Radical   change   not    desired   in   German 292 

Receipts  and  expenditures  of  German 36 

should   include   agricultural   industries 302,  306,  310,  312,  315 

Statistics    essential    to    successful 67 

supervised  by  state,  in  Germany 46 

Theory  of  German  system  of  compensation 56 

to  compensate  sick  workers  obligatory  in   Germany ■   57 

to  guarantee  compensation  must  be  obligatory 13,  14 

Total  cost  in  Germany  of 276 

Unfair  competition   reduced   in   Germany  by   compulsory 38 

Workers'  compensation  in  Germany,  under  mutual  social. fig.  12,  p.  49 


466  INDEX 

PAGE 

International  Conference  at  the  Hague  on  "The  Doctor  Question" 54 

on  Social  Insurance 234 

International  Congress  for  Social  Insurance  in  Rome 29 

International  Harvester  Company,  McCormick  Works fig.  118,  p.  384 

statement  by  G.  A.  Ranney,  of  th€ 385 

workers'  relief  and  pension  system  of 385 

International    Law   Association 16 

Invalidity,  sickness  and  accident  insurance  in  Germany 39,     49 

Investigation  essential   to  sound  legislation ^ 261 

Iron   and   steel   industry   in   Germany,   frequency   and    results    of   acci- 
dents  in    ( frontispiece ) 

German  accident  prevention  in fig.  47,  p.  106;  fig.  52,  p.  109 

22  years'  German  history  of  injured  workers  in fig.  112,  p.  145 

Iron  foundry,  Correct  method  of  catching  stream  in fig.  119,  p.  390 

Incorrect  method  of  catching  stream  in , fig.  120,  p.  391 

Proper  kind  of  clothing  to  wear  in fig.  121,  p.  392 

Iron  Trade  Employers'  Association  of  Great  Britain,  Ltd 244 

Italy,  Compensation  laws  established  in 15 

Compulsory  insurance  for  all  workers  in fig.  3,  p.     13 

Employers  pay  whole  compensation   in fig.  4,  p.     14 

insurance  associations  in 13 

simplified  court  procedure   in fig.  5,  p.     15 


Jacob,  Emil :    Secretary  League  of  German  Employers'  Association ....   291 
Jahn,  W. :   Chairman  Board  of  Directors,  Employers'  Association   for 

the   Brick   Industry 299 

Judicial  decisions  in  Great  Britain,  effect  on  rates 230 


K 

Kaufmann,  Doctor  Paul,  president,  German  Imperial  Insurance  De- 
partment     37,    39,    100    (Portrait)   274 

Kraemer,  G. :  Chairman  Employers'  Association  for  the  Chemical  In- 
dustry   of   Germany 296 

"Krankenkassen,"    German    281,  283 

Kunad,    Ferdinand:    Chairman    Saxonian    Thuringian    Iron    and    Steel 

Employers'  Association  of  Germany 318 

L 

Labor,  "casual,"  meaning  of  term  under  Act  of  1906  in  Great  Britain 

190,  191 

Labor  party  in  Great  Britain  a  power 249 

Labor  T'nions  of  Germany,  growth  retarded 281 

Ladders,  causes  and  frequency  of  accidents  in  Germany,  by  falling  from 

Fig.  42,  p.     94 

Safety  feet  for,  in  use  in  Germany fig.  64,  p.  116,  Fig.  65,  p.  117 

Lake  and  river  navigation  in  Germany,  frequency  and  results  of  ac- 
cidents in   (frontispiece) 

Langen,   Chairman   Board   of   Directors,   Rhenisch-Westphalian  Textile 

Employers'  Association  of  Germany 321 


INDEX  467 

PAGE 

Law  Association,   International 16 

Law,    Civil,   European,   contributory   negligence  formerly   not  a  bar   to 

recovery    under    the 163 

Common,  development  of,  in  Great  Britain 158 

in   Great  Britain,   contract  and  circumstances   of  employment 

under 158 

Compensation,     administered     in     Germany     by     employers     under 

imperial  supervision   45 

Continental,  different  from  that  of  United  States 21 

Englieh    system,    proverbially    conservative 157 

in  Germany,  accident  prevention  demanded  by 289 

Liability,  Act  of  1906,  in  England. . .' 185,  186 

of  1910,  New  York,  insurance  rates  before  and  after  enactment  of 

fig.  115,  p.  151 
of    1910,    Ohio,    insurance    rates    before    and    after    enactment    of 

fig.  117,  p.  153 
Workmen  in  Great  Britain  may  secure  compensation  from  employer 

after    action    at 189 

Laws,  accident  prevention,  in  Germany  strengthen  trade  unions 293 

American  liability,  based  on  English  Common  Law 157 

Comi)ensation,  in  Germany 2G 

for  injured   workers,   in   Europe fig.    2,   p.     12 

liability,  United  States  Supreme  Court  on  confusion  of 163 

United  States,  on  industrial  insurance 75 

Lawsuits  made  impossible  in  Germany 302 

League  of  German   Employers'   Associations 100,  290,  291 

Leather  industry  in  Germany,  accidents  in (frontispiece) 

Employers'  association  for  the 282,  283,  284 

22  years  history  of  injured  workers  in fig.  110,  p.  144 

Lechner,    Ernst,    Chairman    Machine    Builders'    and    Hardware    Manu- 
facturers'  Association   of   Germany 280,  292 

Legal  accident  prevention  regulations  drafted  by  commissions  in  Ger- 
many         31 

Legal   basis    of   Germany's   compensation    system 27 

counsel  may  be  engaged  by  both  sides  in  German  arbitration  courts     77 

process  of  compensation  award  in  Germany 76 

provisions   for  injured   workers   in   Germany 28 

Legislation,   Careful   investigation    essential   to   sound 261 

Comparison    of   European    compensation 16 

compensation,  circumstances  producing  British 22 

Germany  the  authority  on 22 

in  England,  strives  to  fix  liability  for  injury  in 205 

in  Europe,  proceeds  from  carefully  compiled  information 211 

in  Germany,  most  beneficial  ever  undertaken 296 

in  Germany,  relation  of  injured  workmen  to 251 

in  Great  Britain,  influenced  by  trade  unions  and  Labor  Party  249 

in  Great  Britain,  primal  defects  of 249-253 

in  Great  Britain,  relation  of  workman  to 251 

Legislation,  European,  adapted  to  our  form  of  government  would  prove 

beneficial    260 

for  workmen's  protection  in  Germany,  great  achievement 290 

in  Great  Britain  exercises  influence  on  our  legislatures 21 

Insurance,    demands    careful    consideration 154 


468  INDEX 

PAGE 

Legislation,  Legal  l»asis  of  compensatory 11 

Liability  in  England,  additional 169 

Principles  of  European 259 

proposed  in  Switzerland  covering  all  accidents 58 

Legislators,  co-operation  necessary  in  accident  prevention  in  the  United 

States     • 112 

Legislatures,  German,  accident  prevention  constantly  agitated  in 127 

in  many  European  countries  exercise  supreme  authority 21 

Liability  Act,  Employers',  Enacted  in  England,  1880.  ..• 164,  165 

in  Great  Britain,  workmen  prefer  Compensation  Act  to 223 

Liability  and  compensation  in  Germany 131 

elimination  of  Individual 30 

Liability,  Employers,  Act  of  1880  did  not  stop  agitation  in   England 

for  increase  of 169 

basis  of,  in  United  States 5 

Development  of  common  law  in  Great  Britain,  on 158 

formerly  defined  by  contract  of  service  in  England 158 

formerly  relieved  of,  by  agreement  with  the  workman 160 

greater  in  United  States  than  in  England 165 

in  Great  Britain  before  adoption  of  compensatory  principle..   157 

in   Switzerland    fig.  2,  p.     12 

in  United  States,  Fallacy  of  method  used  to  compute 219 

outlines  vague,  in  Great  Britain 246 

Provisions  of  Act  of  1897  in  England 170 

uncertainty  of,  under  English  compensation  Acts  of  1897  and 

1900  178 

versus  accident  compensation  in  Germany 293 

employers  safeguarded  by  obligatory  insurance  from  excessive.  .30,     61 

Extent  of,  under  Act  of  1880  in  England 165 

Fire  insurance  companies  of  Great  Britain  gone  into  Employers' .  .   241 
for  injury  in  Great  Britain,  compensation  legislation  strives  to  fix  205 

imposed  on  employer  in  Great  Britain  by  Act  of  1906 189 

increased  under  Act  of  1906 235 

Individual,  indefinite  in  Great  Britain 252 

Extension    of,    to    representatives    of    employers    under    Lord 

Campbell's   Act    161 

if  established,    formerly    required    employer    to    indemnify    in- 
jured  workmen    160 

in  Great  Britain  affected  by  serious  and  willful  misconduct.  .   203 

in  Great  Britain,  Early  diflSculty  of  proving. .  .  . .' 161 

instances  where  it  may,  or  may  not  exist 196 

not  preferable  to  solvent  insurance  fund 262 

insurance,    business    of    fifty-five    companies    in    Great    Britain    in 

1908   (table)   238,  239 

business  of  four  largest  companies  in   Great  Britain  in  1909 

(table)   240 

cost  of  administrating  in  Great  Britain 242 

percentage  of  premiums  paid  reaching  injured  workmen  in  the 

United  States    47,  219 

under  Compensation  Act,  first  stages  of 229 

under    compensation    legislation    in    Great    Britain,    increased 

demand    for    227 

Law,  Employers'  of  1881  in  Germany 7 


INDEX  469 

PAGE 

Liability  Laws,  Employei-s'  amendment  to,  in  England 169 

in  Great  Britain,  Act  of  1906 185 

laws,    Switzerland  employers' 11 

former,  of  Germany,  a  mistake 304 

opinion  of  United  States   Supreme  Court  on  confusion  of....   163 

legislation,   in  England,   additional 169 

principles    and   policy   of  English 9 

personal,   distinct   from  contributory   insurance 2o 

in  England,  Departmental  Committee  favors  insurance  by.  181,  182 

in   Great   Britain,   doctrine   of 249 

shifting   responsibility   from   individual   to   industry 19 

single  creation   of,  essential 264 

German  system  recognizes  importance  of 79 

system,  wastefulness  of  United  States  employers' 45 

to  public  servants  in  Great  Britain,  municipal  insurance  against.  .   231 
Life  saving  devices  in  German  accident  prevention,  premiums  paid  for 

fig.  43,  facing  p.  lOl 

Linen  Manufacturers'  Association  of  Germany 316 

Litigation  expenses  in  Germany  1.2  per  cent,  of  total  insurance  premiums     77 
in    England,    unduly    caused    by    Compensation    Acts    of    1907   and 

1900    175,  176 

insurance,  cost  of   German 47 

under  Act  of  1906  in  Great  Britain 223 

Loading  and  unloading  in  Germany,  causes  and  frequency  of  accidents 

in    fig.  42,  facing  p.     94 

London  Conference  of  the  International  Law  Association 16 

Lord  Campbell's  Act  in   England 160 

Lump  sum  payments  protected  in  Great  Britain 206 

Luxemburg,  compulsory  insurance  for  all  workers  in fig.  3,  p.     13 

insurance    associations    in 13 

workmen  or  state  contribute  in fig.  4,  p.     14 

Luzatti  converted  to  obligatory  principle 29 

M 

Machine  Builders'  and  Hardware  Manufacturers'  Association  of  Ger- 
many     281,  282,  291 

Maffei,   H.    R.   V. :   Chairman   South   German   Iron   and    Steel  Etoploy- 

ers'  Association  ' 326 

Manes,  Professor  Doctor,  European  expert  on  accident  insurance 

48,  57,  146,  147,  150,  284 
Manufacture    of    musical    instruments    in    Germany,    Injured    workers 

in fig.  105,  p.  143 

paper  articles  in  Germany,  Injured  workers  in fig.  93,  139 

Manufacturers   in    Germany,   Effects   of   compensation   system   on 

295,  296,  303,  311 
Marggrafif,  Karl :  Cliairman,  Paper  Manufacturers'  Association  of  Ger- 
many    287 

Massachusetts  Supreme  Court  decides  "Fellow  Servant  Doctrine . . .  162,  163 
May,   Martin,  Chairman  Employers'  Association  for  Leather  Industry 

of   Germany    284 

Meat  industry  in  Germany,  Frequency  and  results  of  accidents  in 

(frontispiece) 


470  INDEX 

PAGE 

Mechanical  and  electrical  trades  in  Germany,  Injured  workers  in 

fig.  101,  p.  141 

Frequency  and  results  of  accidents  in (frontispiece) 

Statistics  of   38 

Medical  aid  and  accident  prevention 260 

should  be  promptly  given • . .  51,  265 

Medical   and  funeral  expenses  in  Great  Britain,   Employer  liable  for, 

under  Act  of  1906 186 

Medical  attendants  in  Germany,  Efficiency  of 53 

Medical  attention  in  Germany,  a  part  of  compensation • 48 

considered  immediately   necessary 50 

Cost  of    : 48 

in  Great  Britain  not  required  by  Compensation  Act  of  1906 250 

Progressive   employers   in    United    States   recognize   importance    of 

immediate    50 

Medical  examination  and  compensation  in  Great  Britain,   Revision  of 

Act  of  1906 188 

Medical  examination  in  Germany,  made  by  arbitration  courts 77 

Medical  referee  in  England,  Importance  of  conclusive  evidence  by 181 

Medical  specialists  in  Germany,  All  injuries  treated  by 50 

Metal  industry  in  Germany,  Frequency  and  results  of  accidents  in 

(frontispiece) 
Metzenthin,  O. :  President,  Board  of  Directors,  North  German  Textile 

Employers'   Association    325 

Milan,  Accident  prevention  institution  in 120 

Millerand  converted  to  obligatory  principle 29 

Mine  employment  in  England  a  hazardous  industry 171 

Mine  workmen  in  Great  Britain  under  Act  of  1906 192 

Mining   (Coal),  in  New  York  and  Germany,  Comparison  of  insurance 

rates   in fig.  116,  p.  152 

Mining  in  Germany,  Accident  prevention  in 

fig.  46,  p.  105;  fig.  53,  p.  110;  fig.  54,  p.  Ill 

Frequency  and  results  of  accidents  in (frontispiece) 

Injured  workers  in fig.  106,  p.  143 

Minor  injuries  in  Germany,  Temporary  compensation  for 299 

Miscellaneous  metal  industries  in  Germany,  Injured  workers  in 

fig.  97,  p.  140 
Miscellaneous  occupations  in  Germany,  Causes  and  frequency  of  acci- 
dents in   fig.  42,  p.  94 

Misconduct,  serious,  in  Great  Britain,  Definition  of 204 

in  Great  Britain,  Effects  on  compensation  and  liability  of 203 

Montana,  compensatory  principle  recognized  in 18 

Mortality  statistics,  in  Germany,  1905-07 fig.  7,  p.  36 

Munich,  Germany :    Accident  prevention  institutions  in 120 

Municipal  insurance  in  Great  Britain,  against  liability  to  public  ser- 
vants   231 

Museum  exhibits  in  Europe,  character  of 123 

Museums,  needed  in  United  States  to  exhibit  safety  appliances 268 

Musical  instruments  manufacture  in   Germany,  Frequency  and   results 

of  accidents  in (frontispiece) 

Mutual  contributory  principle  in  Germany 49,  fig.  17,  p.  58 

in  Switzerland,  proposed  plan  of fig.  18    p.  58 

Mutual  insurance  compulsory  in  Austria  and  Germany 65 


INDEX  471 

PAGE 

Mutual    insurance    employers'    associations    in    England,     Importance 

of    178,  244,  245 

Mutual  insurance  plan  of  the  General  Electric  Company  of  the  United 

States 415 

Mutual  principles  of  insurance  and  selection  of  risks  may  reduce  rates.      66 
Mutual  social  insurance  in  Germany,  Workers'  compensation  in 

fig.  12,  p.     49 
workers'  contribution  to fig.  13,  p.     49 

N 

Nagel,  Hon.  Charles :  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  statement  by .  381 

National   Association   of  Manufacturers   of   tlie   United   States 381 

National    Association    of    Manufacturers    aided    by    prominent    German 

experts     273 

declares   importance   of   accident   prevention ' 99 

findings    and    recommendations    of    the    Committee    on    Industrial 

Liability   and   Accident  Prevention  of  the 259 

National    relief   system    v^ill    not    interefer   v^ith    individual    employer's 

action     381 

Navigation  in  Germany,  causes  and  frequency  of  accidents  in . .  fig.  42,  p.  94 
Neisser,   Doctor,    Chief   Counsel   for   German    Employers'   Accident   In- 
surance   Association    8,  27 

Netherlands,    insurance    associations   in 13 

New  York  and  Germany,  comparison  of  insurance  rates  in.  .fig.  116,  p.  152 

New  York  ;  compensation  insurance  rates  must  be  increased 151 

compensatory    principle    recognized   in 18 

hazardous  occupations  in  building  trades  of 83 

insurance  rates  before  and  after  enactment  of  Law  of  1910  in 

fig.  115,  p.  151 

Insurance   rates  in   Germany  lower  than   in 151 

New   Zealand,   compensation   laws   established   in 15 

Non-fatal  and  fatal  accidents  by  trades  in  Canada  from  1904-1909 

(table),  377,  378 

Northeastern  Iron   and   Steel   Employers'  Association  of  Germany....  306 

North  German  Metal  Trades  Employers'  Association 312 

North  German  Textile  Employers'  Association 325 

Norway,    compensation    laws   established  in 15 

compulsory  insurance  for  all  workers  in fig.  3,  p.     13 

insurance    associations    in 13 

simplified  court  procedure  in fig.  5,  p.     15 

workmen  or  state  contribute  in fig.  4,  p.     14 

O 

Obligatory  insurance  in  Germany,  has  reduced  unfair  competition 38 

has  united  employers 38 

Results  changed   to  voluntary  performance  in 100-101 

suggested  for  universal  adoption 38 

Occupational  accidents  in  Germany,  causes  and  frequency  of  agricultural 

fig.  41,  p.  94 

Compensation  for    ; .  .  47 


472  INDEX 

PAGE 

Occupational  accidents,  Deaths  caused  by 

fig.  6,  p.  35;  fig.  7,  p.  36;  fig.  25,  p.     83 

lasting  over  thirteen  weeks fig.  24,  p.     83 

Partial   iiermanent   disability   from fig.  27,  p.     84 

Permanent  and  complete  disability  caused  by fig.  2(5,  p.     84 

Responsibility   for fig.    15-lG,   p.     55 

Temporary   disability    from fig.  28,  p.     85 

Occupational  diseases  in  Great  Britain,  marked  increase  in 221 

under  Act  of  1906  in  Great  Britain 186 

Occupational  injuries  in  Germany,  pensions  paid  for. 35 

Occupations,  causes  and  frequency  of  accidents  in  Germany  by  fig.  42,  p.     94 

embraced  under  the  Act  of  1906  in  Great  Britain 192,  193 

industrial,  insurance  rates  per  $100  pay  roll,  in  Germany  fig.  79,  p.  133 

necessity   for   obligatory   compensation    in    hazardous 55,     83 

Ohio,  insurance  rates  and  compensation  legislation  in..  152;  fig.  117,  p.  153 
Old  age  pensions  and  industrial  insurance :  system  of  Cheney  Brothers  401 
Optional   insurance  for  workers'   compensation   in   European   countries 

fig.  3,  p.     13 

P 

Paper  articles,  frequency  and   results   of   accidents   in   manufacture   of 

(frontispiece) 
Paper  making  in   Germany,   frequency   and   results   of  accidents  in 

(frontispiece) 

injured  workers  in fig.  94,   p.  139 

Paper    Manufacturers'   Association    of    Germany 286,  287 

Paris,  working  exhibition  of  safety  appliances  in 120 

Payments,  by  workers  and  receipts  from  German  social  insurance  system     49 

in  German  accident  insurance  system,  deferred 40 

in  lump  sum  protected  in  Great  Britain 206 

weekly,  to  injured  workers  in  Germany 49 

Pension  and   workers'   relief,  system  of  the  International  Harvester  Com- 
pany       385 

Pension  in  Germany  for  slight  physical  injuries,  should  be  abolished..   300 

for  injury    33^  34 

one   for  every   63   inhabitants 35 

to  injured  workers fig.  9^  p.     36 

Pension,  old  age,  and  industrial  insurance,  system  of  Cheney  Brothers  401 

old  age,   in   Germany,   not  granted  to  paupers 147 

Personal  liability  in  Great  Britain,  doctrine  of 249 

Pest,  Franz:  Chairman,  North  German  Metal  Trades  Employers'  As- 
sociation       322 

Physical  examination  of  applicants  for  employment  required  in  Great 

Britain    231 

Pottery  industry  in  Germany,  frequency  and  results  of  accidents  in 

(frontispiece) 
mjured  workers  in fig    95^   p    ^39 

Preventive   devices,   simple,    the   most   effectice '. .  ,  116 

Prevention  of  accidents  in  Germany  a  business  proposition 112 

in   Germany,   cost  of fig.   43,   p.  101 

in  Germany  placed  on  practical  basis 314 

pays  as  a  business  proposition 112 


INDEX  473 

PAGE 

Prevention  spirit  desirable   in  the  United   States 126 

Priestly    vs.    Fowler,    case    in    England    establishing    "Fellow    Servant 

Doctrine" 162 

Principles  of  compensation  in  Great  Britain  decided  under  Act  of  1906  202 

Principles    of    European    Legislation 259 

Printing  industry,   in   Germany,   injured   workers  in fig.   91,  p.  138 

Printing  in  Germany,  frequency  and  results  of  accidents  in.  .  (frontispiece) 
Private  railways  in  Germany,  frequency  and  results  of  accidents  in 

(frontispiece) 

injured  workers  in fig.   Ill,   p,  145 

Professional  players    (sports)    in  Great  Britain  under  Act  of  1906....   193 
Professional  service  in   Germany,   statistics   of 25 

in  United   States,  statistics  of 25 

Public   service   in   Germany,   statistics   of 25 

in    United    States,    statistics    of 25 


Quarry  employment  in  England  a  hazardous  industry 171 

Quarry  industry  in   Germany,  frequency  and  results  of  accidents  in 

(frontispiece) 

injured  workers   in fig.  88,  p.  137 

Quarry  workmen  in  Great  Britain  under  Act  of  1906 192 

Quebec,  compensation   laws  established   in 15 


Railway  employment  in  England,  a  hazardous  industry 171 

servants,  in  Great  Britain,  under  Act  of  1906 192 

Railways  in  Germany,  causes  and  frequency  of  accidents  by.  .fig.  42,  p.  94 

Ranney,  G.  A. :  of  the  International  Harvester  Company,  statement  by  385 

Rates  in  Great  Britain,  continuing  instability  of 234 

Receipts,  of  accident  insurance  and  compensation   system  of  Germany 

fig.  8,  p.  36 

Recovery,  equitable  grounds  for 260 

Reichstag,  German,  bills  before  the 32,  45 

Relief,  accident,  German  literature  on 99 

associations,  voluntary,  in  the  United  States 381 

for  injured  workers  in  Europe fig.  2,  p.  12 

industrial,  has  secured  higher  efficiency  in  Germany 101 

national,  will  not  interfere  with   individual  employers'  action....  381 

statistics  of  in  Germany 33 

Responsibility,  collective,  in  Germany 28 

employers'    financial,    in    Europe 63 

for  agricultural  accidents  in  Germany •.  .fig.  16,  p.  55 

for  industrial  accidents  in  Germany fig.  15,  p.  55 

for  occupational  accidents  in  Germany figs.  15-16,  p.  55 

individual,    in    Germany 28,  316 

workmen's  sense  of,  in  Germany,  lessened  by  compensation 295 

Rhenisch-Westphalian   Textile   Employers'   Association   of   Germany...  321 

Ridgway  Company,  booklet   of 55,  56 

Right  of  action  in  England  formerly  ended  with  death  of  employer  or 

employe    160 


474  INDEX 

PAGE 

Risks,  accidents  arising  during  work  from  unavoidable 259 

defence  of,  assumed,  in  England 109 

reserve,  in  Great  Britain •   231 

taken  under  Compensation  Act  in  Great  Britain  underwritten  at 

a  loss 235 

River  and  lake  navigation,  in  Germany,   frequency  and  results  of  ac- 
cidents in   (frontispiece) 

injured  workers  in  Germany,  in fig.  82,  p.  185 

Rotger,  Mr.:  Chairman,  Central  Federation  of  German  Industrialists..   326 
Ruegg,  Judge  Alfred  Henry,  English  authority  upon  compensation  act 

of  1897   180 

Interpretation   of  "accident"   by 198 

summary  of  principles  by 195,  196 

Russia,  compensation  laws  in 15 

S 

Safeguards  in  American  factories 126 

.Safety  appliance  bill  pending  before  the  German  Reichstag 45 

Safety  appliances,  a  paying  proposition  for  employers 66 

for  woodworking  machines,  fig.  59,  p.  114;  fig.  60,  p.  114;  fig.  61, 
p.  115;  fig.  62,  p.  115;  fig.  63,  p.  115;  fig.  124,  p.  395; 

fig.  125,  p.  396;  fig.  126,  p.  397;  fig.  127,  p.  897 

will    not    prevent    human    carelessness 103 

Safety  covers  for  street  openings,  in  use  in   Germany fig.  66,  p.  118 

Safety  devices  for  handling  hot  metal fig.  76,  p.  126;  fig.  77,  p.  127 

for    handling   steel    plates    and    beams fig.  75,  p.  125 

painted  red  to  attract  workers'  attention,  in  Germany. . .  .fig.  29,  p.     88 

"Safety  feet  for   ladders   in    use   in    Germany fig.  64,  p.  116 

Safety  method  of  loading  and  unloading  round  timber fig.  73,  p.  123 

of  loading  and  unloading  scrap  iron  by  electro-magnets . .  fig.  74,  p.  124 
Safety   Museum   in    Berlin,    views    of . . .  .figs.  69  and  70,  pp.  120  and  121 

in    Munich,    views   of figs.  71  and  72,  p.  122 

Sailors  included  in  German  compensation  laws 26 

Saxonian-Thuringian  Iron  and  Steel  Employers'  Association  of  Germany  318 

Saxonian  Woodworkers'  Employers'  Association 287,  288,  289 

Schmidt,    Robert :    Social    Democratic    Member   of    Reichstag    of    Ger- 
many     322,  823 

Schurer,  Richard:  Chairman  South  German  Textile  Employers'  Asso- 
ciation         320 

Scrap  iron,  safely  loaded  and  unloaded  by  electro-magnets fig.  74,  p.  124 

Seamen  under  Act  of  1906  in  Great  Britain 192 

Sea  navigation  and  fisheries  in  Germany,  Frequency  and  results  of  ac- 
cidents   in    (frontispiece) 

injured   workers  in    fig.  9(5^  p.  140 

•Senate,    (Court  of  Last  Resort)    in  compensation  claims,  in  Germany, 

Decisions    of    fig.  28,  p.     78 

•Servants,  domestic,  under  Act  of  1908  in  great  Britain 192 

in  shops,  hotels  and  public  houses,   in   Great  Britain,  under  Act 

of  1908    192 

Shaw,  Chief  Justice,  established  "Fellow  Servant  Doctrine"  in  United 

States    in   1842    1(32,  163 

Shipbuilding     and     Engineering     Employers'     Association     in     Great 

Britain    244,  245 


INDEX  475 

PAGE 

Sick  funds  in  Gei-many 50,  281,  283,  301,  309,  312,  315 

workers'   attitude   toward    287 

•Sickness  insurance  in  Germany  obligatory 57 

Sickness,  accident  and  invalidity  insurance  in  Germany 39,     49 

■Sickness  insurance  funds  in  Germany,  Employers  pay  one-third  to....     57 

employers  planning  to  obtain  increased  power  over 59 

Simulation   caused   by   eliminating  waiting   period 55 

Socialists    control    59 

Workers   pay   two-thirds   of    57 

^Simulation   in    Germany    53,  54,  58 

Co-operation  of  wage  workers  necessary  in  elimination  of 55 

made    difficult     281,283 

not    easily    remedied    305,  310 

reduced   by   waiting   time    298 

Steps  taken  by  German  Employers'  Associations  to  reduce b4 

^Social  consequences  of  accident  insurance  in  Germany 293 

^Social  insurance  system  of  Germany  admired  in  France 149 

Beneficial   results   of   German    37 

Economic  importance  of  German    40 

Efficiency   of   German    47 

Germany  desires  universal  adoption  of  her 38 

International  Conference  at  the   Hague  on 234 

International    Congress   in   Rome   on 29 

mutual  and   contributory,   in   Germany 49 

State,   employers    and   workers   contribute   toward    maintenance    of 

German    49 

Workers'    compensation    in    Germany   under fig.  12,  p.     49 

Workers'    contribution    to    fig.  13,  p.  49 

Workers'  payments  to  and  receipts  from 49 

Socialistic   demands   in   Germany    322 

doctrines  in  Germany ;  compensation  system  fatal  to 317 

Socialists  in   Germany  control   sickness   insurance  funds 59 

do  not    approve   of   accident   insurance   system 288 

Social   political    theorists    in    Germany 32 

"Society  of  Prevention  Engineers  in  Germany 103 

of  Germany  on  accident  prevention 99 

"South  German   Iron  and   Steel   Employers'   Association 326 

South   German    Textile    Employers'   Association 320 

Spain,    Compensation   laws    established    in 15 

Employers    pay    whole    compensation    in fig.  4,  p.     14 

Optional  insurance  for  workers  in fig.  3,  p.     13 

Regular   court  procedure,   for  settling   disputes   in fig.  5,  p.  15 

Spiecker,  Doctor  F.  A. :  Chairman,  League  of  German  Employers'  As- 
sociation     37,  100,  278 

(Portrait)      p.  278 

Spinning   machines,    showing   right    and    wrong    way    to    remove    twine 

from    shaft    figs.  128  and  129,  p.  398 

Standard  specifications  provided  in  Germany  for  all  types  of  machinery  128 
Starch,   dairy,    and    distillery   industries    in    Germany,    Frequency   and 

results  of  accidents   in (frontispiece) 

State    and    worker,    in    Switzerland,    proportion    of    premiums    as    pro- 
posed   for     fig.  18,  p.     58 


476  INDEX 

PAGE 

State,  employers  and  workers  contribute  toward  maintenance  of  social 

insurance    in    Germany    49 

State  or  workmen -contribute   in   European   countries fig.  4,  p.  14 

State    railways,    mail    and    telegraph    service,    in    Grermany,     Injured 

workers    in     fig.  102,  p.  142 

State  supervision  in  Europe  of  insurance   associations 13 

Statistical  table  of  fatal  and  non-fatal  accidents  by  trades  in  Canada, 

(table)   37,  378 

Statistics,  Accurate  information  obtained  from  German  insurance....     67 

comparative,  of  accidents  in  Germany  and  United  States 25,     95 

Conclusions  on  British  compensation 224 

Erroneous,  of  cost  of  compensation  insurance  in  Great  Britain , . .  218 

German   invalidity,   accident   and   sickness    insurance 89 

Great  value  of  German 201 

Incompleteness   of,   British    218,  224 

Necessity,  in  United   States,  for  accurate 268 

not   kept    211 

of  Act  of  1897.  Commentary  of  Home  office  on 211 

of   German    relief  system 33 

Scientific  prevention  and  insurance  impossible  without  accurate. .     67 

showing  burden  of  the  Act  of  1906 220 

showing  cost  of  compensation  insurance  in  Germany 52 

showing  degree   of  hazard    in   Germany 284 

Steam  boilers  in  Germany,  causes  and  frequency  of  accidents  by 

fig.  42,  facing  p.     94 

Steel  plates  and  beams,  devices  for  safe  handling  of fig.  75,  p.  125 

Stemenberg,    August:    Chairman,    Linen    Manufacturers'    Association 

of   Germany    316 

Stock  raising.   Statistics  of  American 25 

Statistics   of   German 25 

Street  and  interurban  railways  in  Germany,  frequency  and  results  of 

accidents    in    (frontispiece) 

Injured  workers  in    fig.  iQg,  p.  144 

Sugar  industry  in  Germany,  Frequency  and  results  of  accidents  in... 

(frontispiece) 

Injured    workers    in fig.  90,  p.  138 

Suicide  in  Great  Britain  bars  recovery  of  compensation 203 

Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts,  establishment  by  Chief  Justice  Shaw 

of  "Fellow   Servant  Doctrine"   in 162,  163 

Sweden,    Insurance    associations    in 13 

Optional  insurance  for  workers  in fig.  3,  p.  13 

Regular  court   procedure,  for  settling  disputes   in fig.  5,  p.  15 

Workmen  or  state  contribute  in fig.  4,  p.  14 

Switzerland,  Employers'  liability  law  in '. . .  n 

government  contribution   to  accident  compensation   fund  in 58 

Insurance  officials   very  expert   in 58 

Mutual    contributory    principle    as    proposed    in fig.  18,  p.  58 

only  European  country  with  employers'  liability  system,  .fig.  2,  p.  12 

Proposed  bill  covering  all  accidents  in 58 

showing  proportion  of  cost   of  compensation   imposed  on   em- 
ployers,  workers   and   state,    in fig.  18,  p.  58 

Workers'  contribution  in '       '  5 j    ^ 


INDEX  477 


Tariff    rates    on    workmen's    compensation    in    Great    Britain,   increases 

in     (table)   236 

Teaming  accidents  in  Germany,  caused  by  careless  loading  and  unload- 
ing      fig.  122,  p.  393 

frequency  and  results  of (frontispiece),  fig.  42,  p.     94 

injured  workers  in fig.  80,  p.  134 

Team    Owners'    Association    of    Germany 294 

Telegraph,    marine  and   army,   German  compensation   laws  include ....      26 

Territorial  associations  versus   German  sj'stem 292 

Textile    industry    in    Germany,     frequency    and     results    of    accidents 

in    (frontispiece/ 

Injured  workers   in fig.  89,  p.  137 

safe  loading  of,  in  Germany fig.  34,  p.  90 ;  fig.  73,  p.  123 

Threshing  machine  without  and  with  safety  devices  in  Germany 

fig.  30,  p.     91 
Tobacco   industry   in    Germany,   frequency   and   results   of   accidents  in 

(frontispiece) 

Injured  workers   in fig.  85,  p.  136 

Tools,  in  Germany,  causes  and  frequency  of  accidents  by 

fig.  42,  facing  p.     94 

Trade   and    transportation,    German   statistics   of 25 

United   States  statistics  of 25 

Trade  hazard,  principle  of 6 

Trade  risk  in  Germany  and  England,  comparison  of 10 

Trade  schools  in  Germany  teach  accident  prevention 127 

Trade  unions  in  Germany,  accident  insurance  laws  strengthen  the....   293 

compensation  system  does   not  strengthen 301,  309,  314,  317 

Influence    compensation    in    Great    Britain 249 

Trades,  fatal  and  non-fatal  accident  in  Canada,  by (table)   378 

German  statistics  of  electrical  and  mechanical 38 

hazardous  occupations  in  building 83 

Transportation,   German   compensation  laws  include   land  and  water.  .      26 

Tunneling,   compensation  laws  in  Germany  include 26 

frequency  and  results  of  accidents  in (frontispiece) 

U 

Underwriters  unable  to  gauge  employers'  risks  under  Compensation  Act  246 

United   States,   Accident  prevention   necessary  in 112 

Accident  statistics  essential  in 268 

Adjustment    of  compensation    in 269 

Agricultural  hazard  less  in  Germany  than  in 93 

Agricultural    statistics    of 25 

Comparison  of  German  statistics  with 25 

Compensation  measures  will  attract  farm  labor  in 94 

Congress  passes  restricted  statute  of  compensation 18 

Employers'  liability  less  in  England  than  in 165 

Employers  safeguard  their  factories  in 126 

English  Compensation  Act  of  1880  closely  followed  in 165 

English  statutory  laws  copied  by 158 

Established  custom  basis  of  law  in 21 


478  INDEX 

I'AGE 

United  States,  Fallacy  of  method  used  to  compute  cost  of  insurance  in.  .  219 

"Fellow  Servant  Doctrine"  established  in  1842,  in 162 

German  experience  and  statistics  of  great  value  to 261 

importance  of  accident  prevention  in 99 

•  industrial  statistics  of 2^ 

insurance  rates  lower  than  in  Germany 131 

Insurance  values  compared  with  those  of  England  and  Germany.  .  150 

legislation  influenced  by  British  legislation 21 

liability  laws  based  on  English  common  law ^ 15T 

Museums  of  safety  appliances  essential  in 268- 

Opinion  of  Supreme  Court  on  the  confusion  of  liability  laws  in 163 

Opportunity  for  philanthropists  in 102' 

Percentage   of   money    paid    by    employers    for   liability    insurance 

reaching  the  workers  in 47,  219* 

Persuasive  legislation  in 267 

Prevention  spirit  desirable  in 126- 

Principle  of  immediate  medical  attention  recognized  in 50^ 

Recognition  of  the  compensatory  principle  in 18- 

Sound  policy  of  compensation  a  primary  consideration  in 266,  267 

Trade  and  transportation  statistics  of 25 

Uniform  compensation  principles  needed  in 266- 

Voluntary  compensation  for  injuries  should  be  encouraged  in ... .  267 

Voluntary  relief  associations  in 381 

Wastefulness  of  present  employers'  liability  system  in 45« 

V 

Vienna   accident   prevention    Institution 120- 

savings  in  compensation  of,  by  eflScient  medical  stations 51 

Gruesome  exhibit  at fig.  78,  p.  128- 

Voluntary  action  by  employers  in  compensation   should  receive  public 

encouragement    in    United    States 267 

Voluntary  relief  associations  in  the  United  States 381 

W 

Warehouse   industry   in   Germany,   frequency   and   results   of  accidents 

in    (frontispiece) 

22  years'  history  of  injured  workers  in fig.  107,  p.  143; 

Waldschmidt,  Doctor  W 284,  285- 

William  I,  Emperor  of  Germany,  Accident  insurance  reform  of 33- 

Woodworkers'  Association,   German   Southwestern 303. 

Woodworking  industry  in  Germany,  frequency  and  results  of  acci- 
dents  in    (frontispiece) 

22  years'  history  of  injured  workers  in fig.  100,  p.  141' 

Woodworking  machines  in  Germany,  safety  appliances  for,  fig.  59, 
p.  114 ;  fig.  60,  p.  114 ;  fig.  61  and  62,  p.  115 ;  fig.  63, 
p.  115 ;  fig.  124,  p.  395 ;  fig.  125,  p.  396 ;  fig.  126,  p.  397 ; 

fig.  127,  p.  397 

Worker  in  Germany  knows  he  is  protected 311,  314,  319* 

Workers,  Accidents  to  men  in  Germany  more  frequent  than  to  women.  .  69' 

aged,  not  barred  from  employment  in  Germany 69' 

Cause  and  frequency  of  accidents  to fig.  41,  p.  94 


INDEX  479- 

PAGE 

Workers  appreciate  compensation  system  in  Giermany 278 

Average  ratio  to  employers  in  Germany  of 64 

chosen  as  judges  in  German  arbitration  courts  taken  from  industry 

in  which  accident  happened 76 

compensated  in  Germany,  when  injured  by  unavoidable  accidents.  .  46- 

Compensation  for  accidents,  a  public  debt  to  injured  German 49- 

contribute  66  per  cent,  of  the  sick  funds,  in  Germany 76 

Do  not  aid  in  management  of  accident  insurance  in  Germany....  306 

Duty  of  state  to  protect 46 

feel  sure  of  their  rights  in  Germany 304 

have    no    voice    in    the    administration    of    compensation    funds    in 

Germany   ' 58- 

Importance  of  co-operation  among  wage 55 

Industrial  groups  of  German  injured 132" 

injured,   Pensions  granted  in   Germany   to fig.   7,  p.  36 

restored  to  industry  as  quickly  as  possible. 47 

Joint  contributions  foster  harmonious  relations  between  employers 

and   5T 

killed  in  Germany  during  1908 34 

Liability   insurance   percentage   in   United   States   reaching  the   in- 
jured   47 

may  help  manage  insurance  associations  in  Germany 293 

must  not  be  exposed  to  unnecessary  risks  by  master  under  common 

law  of  England   159 

pay  two-thirds  of  the  Gerihan  sickness  insurance  fund 57 

Pensions  paid  to,  in  Germany  during  1908  for  occupational  injuries  35- 

Percentage  of,  employed  in  small  plants,  in  Germany 64 

Permanently  disabled  in  Germany  during  1908 34 

Permanently   maimed    in    Germany    during    1908 34 

Policy  in  Germany  is   to    increase   efficiency  of 147 

Proportion  of  compensation   in  Germany  borne  by 57 

Protected   by  obligatory   insurance 20- 

Protected   by   safety   devices   for  handling  hot   metal 

fig.  76,  p.  126;  fig.  77,  p.  127 

receive  medical  treatment  and  support  from  sick  funds  in  Germany  76- 

Represented  in  commissions  in  Germany    31 

satisfied   with   accident  insurance  in   Germany 282,  297,  309 

Slight  injuries  increase  total  of  industrial  accidents  in  Germany,  to  110- 

temporarily   disabled   in    Germany   during   1908 34 

Total  number  during  1908,  in  Germany,  of  injured 34 

22  years'   German   history  of,  in  agricultural  industry,  .fig.  84,  p.  136 

in  brewing  and  malting  industry fig.  83,  p.  135 

in  brick-making  industry fig.  109,  p.  144 

in  building  industry fig.  92,  p.  138> 

in    clothing   industry fig.  87,  p.  137 

in  dairy,  distilling  and  starch  industries fig.  86,  p.  136 

in  excavating  and  tunneling fig.  98,  p.  140* 

in  flour  mill  industry fig.  81,  p.  134 

in  food  and  canning  industry fig.  103,  p.  142^ 

in   gas   and   waterworks fig.  113,  p.  145 

in  glass   industry fig.  99,  p.  141 

in  iron  and  st^eel  industry fig.  112,  p.  145- 

in   leather   industry fig.  110,  p.  144 


i 


480  INDEX 

PAGE 
Workers,    22    years'    German    history    of,    in    manufacture    of    paper 

goods   fig.  93,  p.  139 

in  manufacture  of  musical  instruments fig.  105,  p.  143 

in  mechanical  and  electrical   industries fig.  101,  p.  141 

in  mining  industry    fig.  106,  p.  143 

in  miscellaneous  metal  industries fig.  97,  p.  140 

in    paper-making   industry fig.  94,  p.  139 

in  pottery  industry fig.  95,  p.  139 

in  printing  industry #  ...  .fig.  91,  p.  138 

in  private  railway  service fig.  HI,  p.  145 

in  quarry  industry fig.  88,  p.  137 

in  river  and  lake  navigation fig.  82,  p.  135 

in  sea  navigation  and  fisheries fig.  96,  p.  140 

in  street  and  interurban  service fig.  108,  p.  144 

in  state  railways,  mail  and  telegraph  service fig.  102,  p.  142 

in  sugar  industry fig.  90,  p.  138 

in   teaming   industry fig.  80,  p.  134 

in  textile  industry fig.  89,  p.  1^ 

in    tobacco    industry .  .fig.  85,  p.  136 

in   warehouse   industry fig.  107,  p.  143 

in  woodworking  industry fig.  100,  p.  141 

voluntarily  come  under  Insurance  Act  in  Germany 36 

Weekly   payments   in   Germany   to    injured 49 

Workers  and  employers.  Accidents,  in  Germany,  due  to  fault  of 55 

antagonized,  in  United  States,  by  present  laws 75 

given  demonstrations  at  German  accident  appliance  exhibitions.  .  .   123 
Workers,  Employers  and  State  contribute  toward  maintenance  of  social 

insurance   system   in    Germany 49 

Workers'  accident   compensation   insurance   in    Germany 99 

Estimated    costs    of    147 

Workers'  and  State's  proportion  of  premiums  as  proposed  in  Switzer- 
land     fig.  18,  p.     58 

attitude  toward  contributions  to  sick  funds   in  Germany 287 

Government's  contribution  in  Germany  to  fund  for  injured 49 

Mutual  social  insurance  in  Germany,  for  compensating,  .fig.  12,  p.     49 

Workers'   compensation   for  injuries fiii-.  2,  p.     12 

mfist  be  paid  at  definite  times G7 

determined  under  Act  of  1906  by  earnings,  in  Great  Britain 193 

Workers'  contribution,   in   Germany,   important 58,  311 

in    Switzerland    57,     58 

necessary     294 

Principle    of    55,     ^^(^ 

proportion    of    fio-.  17,  p.  53 

satisfactory    2S1.    310  317. 

should  not  be  increased  in  Germany 289 

to   mutual   social    insurance    in    Germany fig.  13,  p.     49 

Workers'  efficiency  increased  by  industrial  relief,  in  Germany 101 

Recognition   in   England    of   German 148 

Workers'  fault,  accidents  due  to,  in  Germany 55 

ideas  of  slight  injuries  enlarged  by  simulation  in  Germany 53 

injuries  extending  over  thirteen  weeks  in  Germany  during  1908.  .     34 
insurance,    Beneficial    results    in    Germany,    on    charitable    institu- 
tions   of    49 


INDEX  481 

PAGE 

Workers'  irisurance,  change  in  public  sentiment  in  Germany  about 32 

Rates  in  Germany  higher  than  in  England  for 146 

unites  employers  and  reduces  unfair  competition 38 

limbs  protected  by  safety  appliances  on  woodworking  machines 
in  Germany,  fig.  59,  p.  114;  fig.  60,  p.  114;  fig*.  61,  p. 
115 ;  fig.  62,  p.  115 ;  fig.  63,  p.  115 ;  fig.  124,  p.  395 ;  fig. 

125,  p.  396;  fig.  126,  p.  397;   fig.  127,  p.  397 
lives,    preservation    of,    means    increase    of    national    resources    in 

Germany     38 

objections  to  German  accident  insurance  system 31 

relief  and  pension  system  of  the  International  Harvester  Company  385 

relief  in  the  United  States,  voluntary  system  of . 381 

Workmen  benefited  and  protected  by  compensation  system  of  Germany  320 
contracting  out  schemes  not  obligatory  upon,  in  Great  Britain ....  243 
contribute    to    compensation    fund    in    Austria,    Denmark,    France, 

Germany,   Luxenburg,  Norway  and   Sweden fig.  4,  p.     14 

Definition  of,  under  British  Act  of  1906 190 

Economy  in  giving  prompt  medical  attention  to  injured 51 

English  employer  personally  liable  for  injuries   received   by 170 

entitled  to  compensation  under  Act  of  1906,  in  Great  Britain 186 

employers   in    Germany  care   for   injured   and    sick 30 

indemnified  by  employer  on  establishment  of  liability 160 

injuries  to,  from  careless  use  of  emery  wheels fig.  123,  p.  394 

Liability  of  Employer  under  Act  of  1906  to 185 

Machinery   of   insurance    associations    in   Germany   secure   greater 

safety  of    176 

may  secure  compensation  after  action  at  law,  in  Great  Britain...  189 
Percentage  of  premiums  paid  by  employer  in  United  States  reaching  219 
prefer   Compensation    Act    to    Employers'    Liability   Act    in    Great 

Britain     223 

preferred   creditors    in   Great   Britain    in    event   of  employers*    in- 
solvency      187 

Relation   of  compensation  legislation   to  British 251 

Relation   of  compensation   legislation   to  injured   German 251 

Small  employers  work  to  secure  highest  rate  of  compensation  for 

injured     78 

under  Act  of  1906  in  Great  Britain 192 

Workmen's   accident  compensation.  The   "Doctor  Question"    in 54 

Workmen's    Compensation   Act    of   1897,    in   Great   Britain,    Insurance 

rates  under  the (table)   232,  233 

Workmen's  Compensation  Act  of  1906  in  Great  Britain 331 

Insurance    rates    under (table)   232,  233 

Review    of    208 

Statistics  of  Compensation  and  proceedings  under 215 

Workmen's  compensation  tariff  rates  in  Great  Britain,  Increases  in .  . 

(table)   236 

protection  in  Germany  through  legislation  great  achievement 290 

sense  of  responsibility  lessened  by  compensation  system  in  Germany  295 
Wrong  method  of  removing  twine  from  shaft  of  spinning  machine.  . .  . 

fig.  128,  p.  39S 
Z 
Zurich,    Switzerland,   accident   prevention   institution   in 120 


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